00:00Music
00:00Joining me today from the European Parliament in Strasbourg
00:11is Denmark's European Affairs Minister Marie Biere.
00:14She's had a busy six months as Denmark has been holding
00:18the rotating presidency of the European Union.
00:21They hand over the baton to Cyprus in the new year.
00:24Minister, welcome and thank you so much for joining us on Euronews.
00:28So you said very clearly back in the summer,
00:31at the beginning of this presidency,
00:33that advancing Ukraine's application to join the European Union
00:37would be a big priority for you.
00:40Are you satisfied that progress has been made?
00:43Well, absolutely.
00:45As this advancing EU enlargement process with Ukraine
00:48has been and is one of our top priorities
00:51because we live in uncertain times.
00:54We need a stronger Europe, a Europe that is more secure,
00:57that it can defend itself, and enlargement is a part of that priority.
01:01And that is why it has been so essential for us to move on the enlargement agenda,
01:05especially with Ukraine, but also with Moldova and the countries in the West Balkan.
01:10This is about security.
01:11We need the candidate countries to be closer with the EU,
01:15to be more secure, more stability for Europe.
01:18We don't want any of the candidate countries to turn their eyes to Russia.
01:21It has been particularly difficult with Ukraine,
01:24because, as I guess almost everyone knows,
01:28Hungary is blocking for formal process with Ukraine.
01:32Recently, I know in Lviv that you managed to find a solution for that,
01:36which is a workaround that the technical work can continue,
01:39that Ukraine can continue on this path.
01:41But are you disappointed that you were not able to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
01:47to give his green light,
01:49and that you had to find this quite creative workaround to that?
01:52No, I have to say I am extremely satisfied and proud
01:56that we actually managed to find a new approach
01:59where the enlargement procedure is not at a standstill,
02:03but is in fact very much alive,
02:05that we are moving with Ukraine and also Moldova,
02:08because we are now taking this new approach,
02:10and that approach will be continued during the next presidency,
02:14the Cyprus presidency.
02:15So even though that Hungary is blocking,
02:17we have moved on the enlargement agenda,
02:19because we knew before we took over the presidency
02:21that it would be a problem with Hungary.
02:23They were also blocking during the police presidency,
02:26and they are still blocking.
02:28Couldn't this risk, though,
02:29entrenching Viktor Orbán's opposition even more?
02:33Because at some point, if the rules stay as they are,
02:35he will have to lift his veto.
02:38So if Ukraine is to become a European Union member?
02:41Well, the enlargement procedure requires unanimity
02:44and eventually becoming a member country.
02:47We need all countries on board.
02:49But I think that when Ukraine is delivering
02:51and increasingly are making the reforms
02:54that are getting closer to the EU day by day,
02:56that also increases the pressure on Hungary.
03:00They can't keep blocking,
03:01because Ukraine is getting so much closer to EU
03:04in terms of reforming and transforming the country.
03:07And Ukraine in EU will be a huge benefit,
03:11not just for Ukraine, but also for EU.
03:13For instance, when it comes to our defense and security,
03:16having an integrated defense with Ukraine
03:19would really boost our security.
03:21So I think as long as Ukraine is moving that way,
03:25we are also able to increase the pressure on Hungary.
03:28Now, you've always said that EU membership should be merit-based.
03:33That is, countries have to meet milestones,
03:35implement reforms,
03:36and be ready to join the European Union before they join.
03:40But now Ukraine and also the US
03:42seems to have a different timeline in mind.
03:45And they're saying that Ukraine,
03:47as part of security guarantees,
03:48should become a European Union member
03:50as soon as January 2027.
03:52Do you feel you're being outsmarted by the US here?
03:57Well, I hear all of those rumors.
03:59And to be frank,
04:00we hear a lot of things from over the seas.
04:04We have never put a timeline
04:05on neither Ukraine nor Moldova
04:09or the countries in West Balkan,
04:10because it is a merit-based approach
04:12and we stand with that.
04:16Ukraine have to deliver.
04:18Of course, we would like to see them
04:19sooner than later in the EU,
04:21but they have to deliver and they have to reform.
04:24We're not going to lower the bar.
04:25We'll help them reach the bar.
04:27So no peace agreement can demand quicker access
04:31or establish a timeline for the enlargement process?
04:35I think it is fair that it is a part of the talks
04:39when we're talking about peace with Ukraine,
04:42because the EU membership is undoubtedly
04:44a part of the long-term security and stability for Ukraine,
04:49having a more stable country.
04:51But when we talk security guarantees,
04:54the EU membership is not enough.
04:56Moving on to a slightly different topic.
04:59You've also vowed at the beginning of the presidency
05:02to tackle bureaucracy and over-regulation.
05:05And in recent months,
05:06we've seen various initiatives,
05:08so-called simplification packages,
05:11stripping back EU laws in many different areas
05:13in order to restore its competitive edge.
05:17Are you satisfied with these measures
05:19or are you still concerned that Europe
05:21could become a desert for tech champions
05:25and emerging companies?
05:27Well, I'm very happy that you're bringing up this topic
05:29because that's also really one of the areas
05:31that I'm just super proud of the Danish presidency.
05:34We said from the beginning
05:36that we wanted a stronger Europe
05:38in terms of security and defense
05:40and also competitiveness.
05:41That was the second theme.
05:43And we really managed also to deliver results here,
05:46taking the omnibus packages.
05:48The Council now have reached a general approach
05:51on six of the omnibus packages.
05:53And we have been able to, during our presidency,
05:56to make agreement on three of the omnibus packages
05:58with the European Parliament.
06:00Especially, I am very satisfied that we made agreement
06:03on the omnibus one,
06:05on sustainability requirements for companies.
06:07This will ease the burdens on our companies very much.
06:11And that is very good.
06:12And it is a good first step for moving on
06:16and making it easier to do business in Europe.
06:19And that is really something we need
06:20if we want to have a better competitiveness in Europe.
06:24But does this simplification agenda come with a price?
06:29Does it come with a price for the climate, for example?
06:32I don't see it that way.
06:34Actually, on the contrary,
06:36if we don't strengthen our competitiveness,
06:39we will not be able to solve
06:41the climate challenges we are faced with.
06:45Because in order to find solutions for that,
06:48we need to have a strong economy
06:51where we do not depend on fossil fuel.
06:54Therefore, we need new green technologies.
06:57And those new green technologies,
06:59they cannot thrive
07:00if we don't have a good economic environment
07:02and where it is easy for businesses to scale
07:06and to grow, to find investment.
07:07Digital rules have also been simplified.
07:10Are you concerned that this is partly a bow to the U.S.,
07:15which is making it very clear
07:17that it's unhappy with the degree of regulation
07:20affecting digital tech companies
07:22coming from the European Union?
07:24I think it is quite a strange argument to make.
07:28Europe has to have better competitiveness,
07:30and we needed to have that,
07:32whether we had Trump or we did not have Trump,
07:35whether the U.S. is saying what they do or not.
07:37That was evident by the Mario Draghi report last year,
07:41before there was the presidency election in the U.S.
07:44We have problems with our competitiveness.
07:46And Mario Draghi, in fact,
07:47was also pointing to that we are over-regulating in the U.
07:51So this has nothing to do with Trump or the U.S.
07:54This has something to do with EU, with Europe,
07:57that we want Europe to be stronger.
07:58And in order for us to be a global actor,
08:01we need to make it easier to do business,
08:03and therefore we need to ease the burdens.
08:05I'd like to touch as well, Minister, if I can,
08:09on the migration files,
08:10because you have been overseeing as the Danish presidency
08:12many important developments when it comes to migration policy,
08:17including steps that could allow EU countries
08:21to send asylum seekers to third countries deemed safe.
08:27Some of these countries may have absolutely no connection
08:31to these asylum seekers.
08:33Is this a fair and humane way for the EU to treat potential refugees?
08:39This has also been part of our presidency priorities.
08:43And it is a part of making Europe more secure.
08:47We need to have better control of migrants going to Europe,
08:51and we need to be better at sending irregular migrants back.
08:56It is also about the number.
08:58There is a limitation of how many irregular migrants we can receive.
09:03That will destabilise our countries.
09:05If we receive too many,
09:07we cannot send back irregular migrants.
09:10Now we have reached an agreement in the Council
09:12on the safe third country,
09:15making it easier to send irregular migrants back.
09:18And would you say that the EU is now embracing
09:20the quite harsh or hard line on migration
09:24that Denmark has been embracing for quite a long time
09:27and often criticised for that?
09:29Well, to be honest, not enough.
09:31I mean, it's very good that we made these agreements,
09:34but we still have a lot of problems.
09:37We still have conventions saying
09:40that we have to protect the criminal immigrants
09:43better than our own citizens.
09:44In Denmark, we are struggling a lot.
09:46Are you referring to the Human Rights Convention?
09:48The Human Rights Convention, yes.
09:50Criminal immigrants that we cannot send back
09:53because of the conventions.
09:55So this has nothing to do with the EU policy,
09:57but the conventions.
09:58And that is a problem.
10:00And we are, to say it out straight,
10:02we are protecting criminal immigrants
10:05better than we are protecting our own citizens.
10:07So this is something that we are also working with.
10:10We did that before our presidency,
10:12during our presidency,
10:12and we will keep working with that.
10:14And I just acknowledge that we are now
10:17many member countries, also non-EU countries,
10:20that are now working to have this change.
10:23And you support changing the way
10:24that convention is interpreted, is that right?
10:27Yes.
10:27We made a letter together with now,
10:30I believe it's 27 countries,
10:32some of them EU countries.
10:33It is also about trust and trust in our democracy.
10:39If it is convention and judges that are making our laws
10:42instead of elected politicians,
10:45we will lose trust in our democracy.
10:48So this is something we have to take serious.
10:51And that's what we do from Denmark.
10:52And I can see that more and more countries
10:55agree with our approach in Denmark about this.
10:59Finally, Minister, to close off,
11:01what would you say to your Cypriot counterparts?
11:04What should they really be prioritizing
11:06over the next six months?
11:07Well, I hope they will continue on the same track as we did.
11:12And we followed up on the Polish presidency,
11:15especially when it comes to security and defense.
11:18That was also what the Polish presidency was about.
11:20We have built on that, also on competitiveness.
11:23And this is really key issues for Europe.
11:26Now we have a roadmap from the Commission
11:29guiding us how to be able to defend ourselves in 2030.
11:33I hope that the Cyprus presidency will continue this work
11:37and also on competitiveness.
11:40We just talked about Omnibus 1,
11:42and now we have eight packages,
11:44but much more will come from the Commission.
11:45And we need to reach agreements on that
11:47in the Council and with the European Parliament.
11:49So I really hope that the Cyprus presidency
11:51will do their best on this.
11:53I'm sure they will.
11:54Minister, thank you so much.
Comments