Voormalig Europarlementariër Thorning-Schmidt als nieuwe premier Denemarken welkom geheten door voorzitter EP (en)

Following the meeting with the new Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt i, the President of the European Parliament made the following remarks:

"It is a pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt to the European Parliament, as a former MEP, Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt knows the Parliament very well.

I strongly welcome the removal of the reinstated Danish border checks as one of the first decisions of the incoming government which is good news for Europe and sends a strong pro-European message. I welcome the fact that the new government now has a separate Minister for Europe.

We discussed the Danish Presidency of the first half of 2012. I am sure that Denmark will be able to ensure continuity and efficiency taking over from the Polish Presidency, demonstrating a strong engagement and commitment to EU integration.

I welcome the priorities of the Danish Presidency, creating economic growth in the EU and ensuring a sound economy, climate, energy, environment and agriculture, freedom, security and justice, negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget and a strong global role for the EU.

On the Multiannual Financial Framework specifically, I underlined that in the European Parliament the Commission proposal has been generally perceived by the political groups as a good and realistic starting point for negotiations. The proposed 5% increase broadly reflects the position of the EP Special Committee. The Danish Presidency will have a crucial role in preparing the overall proposed agreement. I expressed my conviction that Denmark will give a strong dynamics to the talks.

We underlined the need to do everything to contain the sovereign debt crisis. We discussed my idea to introduce a fast-track procedure to EU legislation needed to fight the crisis and support the single market."