Minister for Trade and Investment, Pia Olsen Dyhr, will be chairing the Foreign Affairs Council’s discussion among trade ministers Friday. On the agenda are initiatives to give new impetus to growth and jobs in Europe, liberalise green trade and improve developing countries’ access to the EU’s market.
Representing the EU member states, the Danish Minister for Environment Ida Auken today signed an agreement on water collaboration with China. From Europe, the collaboration will be led by Denmark and is expected to result in an increase in export of green technology and the creation of new jobs.
At yesterday’s ECOFIN meeting, EU’s 27 economy and finance ministers took an additional step in the implementation of the strengthened economic cooperation. First, the ministers adopted a new recommendation for Hungary to correct their excessive government deficit and decided a partial suspension of commitments from the Cohesion Fund for Hungary. Secondly, ministers discussed the Commission’s first Alert Mechanism Report. There was also a discussion of the Commission’s proposal for a Financial Transaction Tax. The discussion confirmed that there is a wide range of positions on the issue and later in the Danish Presidency conclusions on the way forward will follow.
On 14 -15 March the Danish EU Presidency hosts an international conference in Copenhagen on joint combat against antimicrobial resistance. The Danish Presidency is aiming for the Council to conclude on common EU measures for combating antimicrobial resistance.
The Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach will Friday be hosting a high-level meeting for a number of international actors to discuss how to help people in the Horn of Africa more and prevent recurring humanitarian crisis.
The Member States of the European Union have taken an important step towards improving the legal position of beneficiaries in succession cases. Thus, the European Parliament has today granted its support to a proposal for new rules that will allow succession cases connected to several Member States to be settled by one authority and under one set of rules. The Danish EU Presidency has dedicated a focused effort to achieving agreement on the issue, and the vote of the European Parliament is the culmination of a process of intense negotiation between the Council and the European Parliament. However, due to its opt-out in matters concerning justice affairs, Denmark will not itself gain any benefit from the new rules.
The Commission’s proposal to introduce a financial transactions tax will be discussed Tuesday when the Minister for Economic Affairs and Interior, Margrethe Vestager will lead her European colleagues through the third ECOFIN meeting during the Danish Presidency.
Tomorrow, Monday 12 March in Copenhagen, Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Villy Søvndal opens an international conference on counter-terrorism and human rights.
EU foreign ministers agreed this weekend to sharpen the focus on human rights in EU foreign policy. The agreement was obtained at the informal ministerial meeting, which took place at Bella Centre in Copenhagen Friday and Saturday where ministers discussed how to strengthen EU foreign policy in times of economic crisis. The foreign ministers also discussed current crises situations, including Syria. There was broad agreement to continue the gradual sharpening of sanctions against the Assad regime.
26 EU Environment Ministers today managed to agree on a climate strategy towards 2050. With 26 countries agreeing to the Presidency’s text on the Low Carbon 2050 Roadmap the conclusions were not formally adopted but will be presented as Presidency conclusions.
The Presidency compromise proposal which would allow Member States the possibility to say no to the cultivation of GMO’s on their own territories had the support from more than 20 EU Member States, but it was not enough to break the blocking minority.
Every year more than 25,000 European citizens die from infections caused by bacteria that have developed resistance towards antimicrobials. Treatments that used to work efficiently have lost their effect. One of the big sinners is overuse of antimicrobials for human and for veterinary purposes.
The Ministers of Home Affairs and Ministers of Integration Affairs of the EU Member States take important steps to strengthen cooperation on asylum matters and to secure EU’s external borders. The Danish Presidency succeeded in gaining support for a new tool box aimed at helping EU Member States exposed to a particular pressure from an influx of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
Friday 9 March Europe's Environmental and Climate Ministers are meeting for a series of important negotiations. On the agenda are GMO’s and a roadmap on climate change up to 2050.
Thursday 8 March the Danish Minister of Business and Growth, Ole Sohn, will speak at the international conference ‘European Competition and Consumer Day’.
Danish Minister of Justice and President of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council, Morten Bødskov, wants to find practical solutions to the challenges facing the EU in the area of asylum and illegal immigration. Therefore, the Minister has put these subjects on the agenda of the first JHA Council Meeting under the Danish Presidency which will be chaired by the Danish Minister.
While recession is dominating European politics, democratisation is high on the agenda when the Arab Spring is the topic of debate. But can the EU deal with its own problems and financial crisis and simultaneously make a positive contribution to the democratic, economic and social changes in North Africa and the Middle East?
Minister for European Affairs, Nicolai Wammen, today concludes a two-day visit to Iceland, where especially Iceland’s ongoing EU enlargement negotiations and the Danish EU Presidency were in focus.