Pressemøde den 3. juni 2025

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: Dear Roberta, first of all, a warm welcome to Copenhagen. Next month Denmark will take over the EU presidency after Poland, and we do so in a very defining moment for Europe. As you all know, Europe is facing challenges on a historic scale.

There's war on our continent, the geopolitical realities are changing, and we are facing challenges from mass migration, climate change, and global competition. To be very short, Europe faces the greatest challenges in generations. The last decade has shown us that the EU is capable of unity and collective action when it matters the most, especially when it comes to addressing the pandemic, Covid-19, energy crisis, and the war against Ukraine from Russia.

I think we have been able to find solutions to make Europe prosper, and to continue that we have to work even more closely together. We need strong and honest relations between our countries, and between the institutions that bind us together. And in this context, the European Parliament is of course a very important player. I'm therefore happy to have had you, Roberta, and the European Conference of Presidents for a meeting this morning. I think we had a good and a very frank discussion about different matters and our priorities for the next six months. I would like just to highlight two things from today's meeting.

First, we must speed up our processes so our decisions can be translated into action. And we have to focus on our priorities, find solutions to our common challenges caused by migration, high energy prices, and most importantly, we have to strengthen our support to Ukraine. All of these have the same common goal. We have to make a strong and safe Europe. It has been a pleasure having you here today. I'm sure that we'll have a good and close cooperation, and I look forward to the next half a year.

And with these few words, the floor is yours, Roberta, welcome. 

President Roberta Metsola: Thank you. Thank you so much. Good morning. Let me first thank you, dear Prime Minister, dear Mette, for the invitation and for this opportunity for the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament to visit beautiful Copenhagen. As of 1st of July, Denmark will indeed be leading the Council of the European Union, and this presidency could not come at a more critical time for Europe.

For the coming six months, in fact, we will rely on Denmark to lead the way, and I welcome your focus on strengthening our security, our competitiveness, and democracy. In fact, today's meetings that we've just had with the Prime Minister and her team, the Danish government, later on with Folketinget, will allow us, in fact, to hit the ground running, as from the 1st of July. I'm also here to do my bit to help reconnect European decision-making with the people of Denmark to bring the Parliament closer to the citizens who voted for their Danish members of the European Parliament last June. They are those we represent, and I know that this is very important also for Denmark. 

In more general terms, in these uncertain times, we need a stronger Europe and we need a safer Europe, just as we need a smarter and a faster one. The time for geopolitical outsourcing is over. We must take responsibility for our own security, and that starts with Ukraine, as Ukraine security is Europe's security, and the Prime Minister had also the opportunity to see the broad majority of the European Parliament group representatives who are completely aligned on this. In fact, Denmark has understood this challenge and will be perfectly placed to move Europe forward in our continued support for Ukraine, in strengthening our own capabilities and capacities to protect Europe. 

Last point, a strong and safe Europe also needs a strong and smart economy to make the investments that we need, and to do this we must reform. We understood that in the European Parliament we must simplify by cutting red tape and lowering the administrative burden for companies. We need to unlock capital. We need to make full use of our single market.

In short, we need to support innovation. We need to make sure our businesses, no matter how small or large they are, can grow and pass the message that Europe is open for business, and with Denmark as home to so many successful companies in the driving seat, and also with your leadership and drive, dear Mette, I'm sure that the upcoming presidency will be a resounding success, if we work together, and when we will. 

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: Thank you. And now we will open the floor for questions. TV2. 

Journalist, TV2: Mette Frederiksen, you're not telling the Danes how they are going to pay for the rising defense cost. Is it because you don't know how? 

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: I will answer in Danish, because this is a more internal affair. Vi følger faktisk den proces, vi har besluttet fra starten, kan man sige, i den her del af genoprustningen af det danske forsvar. Vi ønsker, at Danmark skal kunne forsvare sig selv. Vi ønsker, at kampkraften skal op. Derfor har vi givet det meget klare besked til forsvarschefen: køb, køb, køb. Vi har lavet en accelerationsfond, den er finansieret i år og næste år, og de afledte driftsomkostninger, der vil følge i de kommende år.

Det har vi kunne gøre primært for, fordi dansk økonomi er stærk, og fordi vi vokser. Så har vi sagt meget klart for vores allierede, at vi selvfølgelig har tænkt os til leve op til de mål, som jeg forventer, at vi vil beslutte på Hauge-topmødet i NATO om få uger. Det vil kræve yderligere bevillinger til danske forsvar, da vi er forpligtet over for Arktis og det høje nord. Når vi kender omfanget af vores styrkemål, når vi har nået en principbeslutning i NATO om nye procentsatser, så vil vi selvfølgelig fremlægge den økonomi, der skal understøtte den. Men det er, kan man sige, den proces, vi har valgt, og som vi synes er den rigtige som regering. 

Journalist, TV2: Ja, men du sagde også i går, at du er klar til at gå op på de her 5 procent, hvis vi taler om 3,5 og 1,5. Så hvis det er tilfældet, så kender vi godt regningen nu. Er det ikke en omvendt rækkefølge at sige ja til en regning uden at vide, hvordan det skal betales? 

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: Nej, det er det ikke. Og det kan meget vel være, at den regning vil se anderledes ud, fordi vi fortsat er i gang med en genopretning af det danske forsvar, og vi har nogle helt særlige forpligtelser med Kongeriget Danmark i forhold til Arktis og det høje nord. Så vi arbejder stadig sammen med Forsvarschefen om, hvordan det danske forsvar skal se ud i de kommende år. Jeg tror ikke, der er nogen danskere, der er i tvivl om, at den her regering har tænkt sig at løfte opgaven, og i tråd med alle andre politiske prioriteter vil vi selvfølgelig komme til at finansiere det. Så det kan man være meget rolig omkring. Danish Radio.

Journalist, DR: Can I ask both of you to comment on the latest development in Gaza, where again and again we see that the distribution of aids ends up in chaos, violence, death. Your comment, and maybe specifically your comment towards Israel. 

President Roberta Metsola: This European Parliament has been extremely clear from day one when we asked for a permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages, and increasingly importantly now, the allowing of aids to go in.

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. We have children, women and men dying every day, and we as the number one contributor of humanitarian aid should be asking where is that aid going, and how is it going to get to the people who need it the most. We also need to continue working, no matter how difficult it is, towards a two-state solution.  And it is in that context, and here I'm sure in the Council there's also a debate as to what we do next, how we ensure that we have safety and security for all the people in the region. 

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: I don't really have a lot to add because I totally agree that the situation on the ground is terrible, and we need aid immediately to enter Gaza. We need a ceasefire to ensure that, and we need of course all the hostages to be freed. And then we have to push our partners in Israel to take care of especially the civilians, of course, in Gaza, and to find a way forward when it comes to a two-state solution. But the situation is, as you said, it's terrible, and we need all kinds of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza immediately. 

Journalist, DR: But EU citizens might be asking themselves if the EU could do more towards Israel.

President Roberta Metsola: Well, at the moment there is, as you know, a review of the association agreement. There are ministers for foreign affairs that have asked. It is in that context that the relationship will be assessed and that the discussions will take place.

We have never shied away from asking the questions. We will not shy away. And where we see that human lives, innocent human lives, civilians are being indiscriminately bombed, we will be the first ones to speak and the first ones to condemn.

Journalist, Ritzau: My question is for the President. It seems that the union is having trouble agreeing on a new climate target. Should it be 90 percent? Should it not? Can you comment on why it is that we at this time are having difficulties agreeing on a new climate target? Is it because the ambitions are being lowered? And where do you stand? Do you think that a 90 percent target is the right way? 

President Roberta Metsola: So, this is a discussion, as you say, which is quite, I would say, not emotional in the European Parliament, but is driven by many factors. Which country you represent, the societal fabric, in other words, the priorities of the immediate place where you live, where you see, for example, in some countries that security is the number one concern. In other countries, housing is the number one concern. In other countries, immediate employment is the number one concern.

I would say that across the board, if you put these three together, that's what we were asked to deliver with the elections that took place in June last year. All of this, however, and I'm convinced and will remain convinced, is that we cannot, perhaps we didn't do it enough before, remove or de-separate, uncouple the economy from the environment. And I think for many years we did. In other words, we would talk about economic growth, we would talk about investment, we would talk about competitiveness, and then we would talk in parallel, as though it was another different subject, environmental targets. We realized last June that it is no longer possible. If we don't, as the pro-European, I would say, majority in the European Parliament, continue to push for those targets to be met, while at the same time addressing the key concerns for those countries where, for example, the poverty gap is increasing, then we will not manage to answer our citizens' questions.

So it will be a big discussion. It is against the background also of some governments having completely changed position from last mandate to another, but I'm convinced that that ambition will remain in the European Parliament and we'll push for it. 

Journalist, Ritzau: Yes, and another topic, this next term is likely to be a lot about the debt problem, the debt solutions, how we as a union are going to solve the debt challenges in front of us from the COVID crisis. How do you propose that we solve the debt issues the next term? 

President Roberta Metsola: So, we also had a chance to discuss the forthcoming negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework, where we agree that we need to be more agile, we need to be more flexible, and we need to be more adaptable. The world today is completely different to how it was when we negotiated the last multi-annual financial framework. What we've also learned, both in the pandemic and after Russia invaded Ukraine, is that we need to be more flexible in the way funds are used for the immediate priorities that our citizens want us to use.

It could be also with reference to natural disasters, catastrophes, geographic ones, climate ones that take place usually towards the end of summer, where you see year on year that we do not have the financial capacity to redress that. We have been asking as a parliament for questions, I would say, on payments on how to repay Next Generation EU. I think when we see how much of the amount was allocated with how much of the amount has been spent so far, we would say we need a serious understanding and examination, country by country, of where that money went. And where that money did go, how are we going to pay it back? That is why we have pushed for a long time on the question of own resources. Controversial. Different countries have different positions.

But we see that if we do not, at the same time as we increase our common debts, come up with new ways, no matter how innovative, unprecedented they are, to refinance so that we do not only leave debt to our next generations, then we will not be answering the most important question that we will have for the next five years. 

Journalist, Bloomberg: Now you're talking about the EU's long-term budget, which we will start talks about during Denmark's EU Presidency. Question for you, Mette Frederiksen. Denmark, during the last negotiations, were kind of grouped together in these frugal nations. Do you still label yourself or Denmark as a frugal nation? And what is your stance on potentially expanding the next budget? And for you, Roberta Metsola, do you see scope for the EU, European stakeholders, coming together and agreeing on potentially a bigger budget in the next long-term, seven-year framework? 

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: If I start, last time we had a leading role in the frugal four. Next time we'll have a leading role in another group. Because things have changed and the world is changing rapidly. And we have to find the right answers to all these challenges in front of us.

For me, the most important thing is to re-arm Europe. That's my starting point and that's my conclusion in all discussions. Because if Europe is not able to protect ourselves and to defend ourselves, then it's game over at some point. So re-arming Europe is for me number one. And because of that, then all other priorities and all other principles and discussions have to be taken after deciding and taking the needed decisions on how are we going to re-arm ourselves. And for me, the latest point will be 2030. And we are running out of time because of Russia's behavior. So because of Russia's behavior, because of all the threats against Europe and a very uncertain situation for Europe and a very insecure world, then we need a new budget and we need a new profile on the budget. 

I totally agree that when we're talking about the budget, we need to think more flexible. Because if you think back, all of you in this room, what happened seven years ago, no one in this room would have the ability to think about the seven years that we have witnessed and try to imagine what will happen in the next seven years. So flexibility is of course one thing, but first of all and most important, we need a budget that gives the answers to the priorities we have in the Council, in the Parliament, in the European political leadership. 

As Danes, we will always be tough in the negotiations on the budget. We don't want money to be spent on nothing that is not necessary for Europe. So we will be tough, but being a part of the frugal four is no longer the right place for us. 

President Roberta Metsola: So I think we share the ambition of responding to the realities of today. I think there's one responsibility we all collectively have, whether we are in the Parliament or in the Council or currently in the Commission, hopefully drafting the latest version until we get it in the middle of July, the first proposal. Traditionally, the Parliament has started quite far away from the Council for different reasons. There is a lot of focus on programs. We focus on agriculture, we focus on youth, we focus on research, we focus on making sure that our social realities are kept also at the focus of what we do. 

Why do we say this? Because this is what the citizens ask from us and in a way they expect us to come to the table with that standpoint. Having said that, we understand that a budget like we had before, with the construction as it was before, is not workable. We realized this immediately when we needed to re-divert funds for the pandemic, create new funds, create new borrowing capacities, agree on unprecedented own resources. We can discuss the success of those or not in a different situation, but we did it. We also did that for the review of the current multi-annual financial framework.

What we would not want is that we put everything in one or two programs and forget everything else. This is where we will need to come at a compromise. I agree with the Prime Minister that we should not wait until the last moment. The last thing our citizens want is instability and unpredictability. I think we owe it to them to be clear in what we want and to be clear in what we can achieve. 

Our team is set. It is made up of extremely experienced negotiators, who are also involved in negotiating the annual budget with the other institutions. I am convinced we can reach an agreement that we can sell, that is deliverable, but does also not let go of the most important priorities, concerns. If that is security, if that is competitiveness, it has to be there at the very core of it.

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: Okay, last question. 

Journalist, Omnibus: President Metsola, I am a little curious, it comes with the job. We are taking over at a very, very difficult time. Would you here today have one or maybe two very, very good advice to give Denmark before we are taking over on the 1st of July? 

President Roberta Metsola: That is a tall order. This is the eighth presidency, I think, that Denmark is hosting since 1973, so there is a lot of experience here. But I can tell you how, after years of being a member of the European Parliament and before working in government. So in council, that we have always looked to Denmark as being the pragmatic consensus builder around the room. And since I have been president, having worked alongside Mette in many meetings over the years, that is exactly what we have seen, that is what I am sure we will get, and that is what will be the most results-oriented when you compare what is a successful presidency and a less successful presidency. I have no doubt that this will be a successful one because it will be results-oriented. I can turn that into an advice, but I don't think Mette needs that.

Statsminister Mette Frederiksen: Thank you, all of you.