New Danish PM Vows to Abolish EU Opt-Outs

Bulgaria in EU | October 13, 2011, Thursday // 17:04|  views

EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy welcomes Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (L) prior to a meeting at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 October 2011, ahead to European heads of State Summit that will take place in Bruss

New Danish PM, social-democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt stated in Brussels that her government will work to abolishing opt-outs from the EU once the country becomes the EU's rotational president in the first half of 2012.

In September 15 general elections, Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats and their allies managed to get enough votes to outdo the coalition around outgoing PM Lars Loekke Rasmussen's Venstre.

Speaking in Brussels Thursday, Thorning-Schmidt, her country's first female PM promised that Denmark will move to a closer EU integration and abolish the 4 opt-outs from common policies the country negotiated in 1993.

In 1992 Danes rejected in a referendum the Maastricht Treaty, after which a partial exclusion of Denmark from some areas of European integration were negotiated.

They include an opt-out from the euro, as well as some matters relating to the Common Security and Defence Policy, Justice and Home Affairs, and the citizenship of the EU.

According to the new Danish PM, the crisis that has grappled the Union is a time that mandates Denmark to make the move in abolishing its privileges and become what she called "a regular EU member."

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Tags: Denmark, Danish, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Social Democrats, Venstre, EU, European Union, Integration, euro, citizenship, opt-out

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