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EU's Juncker to discuss referendum with Danish PM next week

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen at the end of next week to discuss the outcome of Denmark's referendum Thursday which rejected deeper integration into the European Union (EU).

"President Juncker and Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen spoke on the telephone yesterday night and they agreed to meet in Brussels at the end of next week to discuss how to take things from here," Chief EC Spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters at a press briefing on Friday.

Danish voters on Thursday turned down a government proposal to replace the nation's current opt-out of the EU's justice and home affairs rules with an opt-in model in a referendum.

With a "no" vote, Denmark risks being excluded from the EU's law enforcement agency Europol as the organization is set to become a supranational agency controlled by EU justice and home affairs ministers following the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

Meanwhile, data shows that Danish police access Europol's criminal database Europol Information System (EIS) ten times more than other EU member states, and the Danish "yes" camp believed that "it will be a serious problem for the safety and security of all Danes if Denmark is required to leave Europol."

The referendum was largely meant to ensure Denmark's continued participation in Europol and calls for the adoption of 22 justice and home affairs legislative acts.

However, the "no" camp wants Denmark to retain its legal exemption despite its support for Danish participation in Europol, arguing that the country risks losing control over its immigration policy, given the current refugee crisis facing the EU.

It is Denmark's second referendum regarding its four EU opt-outs, namely joint defense, justice and home affairs, European citizenship, and the adoption of the euro, obtained from the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.

Denmark last held a referendum on its relationship with the EU in 2000, when voters rejected a proposal to replace the Danish krone with the euro. Endit