Under the leadership of Denmark’s president, the European Union has made significant progress on policies that are considered priorities for Copenhagen, the country’s European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre said on Euronews’ flagship interview show. 12 minutes.
The Danish government holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 July 2025, allowing it to set the agenda in Brussels. Tackling “bureaucracy” and “overregulation” was one of the priorities to restore the EU’s competitiveness in the face of China and the United States.
“We said from the beginning that we want a Europe that is stronger in terms of security and defense and competitiveness, and that was the second theme. And we were able to achieve results here as well,” Bjerre told Euronews.
In 2025, the European Commission proposed 10 so-called simplification packages, or omnibus proposals, to remove EU regulations in a variety of sectors, from agriculture to defence, to digitalisation.
“During my presidency, we were able to agree with the European Parliament on three of the omnibus packages,” Bjerre said, adding that he was “particularly pleased” that the EU Parliament approved the omnibus I package earlier this month and agreed to reduce sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements.
“This will reduce the burden on us, make it easier for us to expand in Europe, and be a good first step moving forward. This is really necessary if we want to be more competitive in Europe,” Bierre said.
Growth requires deregulation
Mr Bjerre disputed claims by climate change advocates that some simplification measures would weaken key sustainability laws under the European Green Deal.
“On the contrary, without strengthening our competitiveness, we will not be able to solve the climate change challenges we face,” he said, adding that for this purpose the EU needs a strong economy powered by new green technologies.
“If companies don’t have a good economic environment to scale and grow and find investment, they can’t thrive. So I really see these things as going hand in hand.”
Mr Bjerre also welcomed the EU’s digital omnibus package, which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of digital businesses. Critics say the setback in Europe’s goal of being a bellwether on tech legislation is the result of President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on countries he accuses of attacking American tech companies.
“I think this is a pretty strange argument to me,” Bierre said. “With or without President Trump, Europe needed to be better competitive.” He said this was evidenced by a report last year written by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, which highlighted overregulation as a major impediment to digital growth.
danish model
The Danish Presidency also led negotiations on important developments on migration policy, reaching an agreement in particular on the “safe third country” concept, which allows for external processing in “return hubs” and advance returns.
“This is part of my presidential priorities and part of making Europe safer,” Bierre said. “We need to better manage the migrants coming to Europe, and we need to improve the way we send irregular migrants back.”
Once heavily criticized, Denmark’s “hard” immigration policies – known as the Danish model – are now accepted and influence wider EU policy. But Bierre says this isn’t being done enough.
Referring to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), he said: “We see more and more countries agreeing with our approach on this matter in Denmark. It is very good to have such an agreement, but we still have many problems. We still have treaties that say criminal migrants must be given more protection than their own nationals.”
Several EU countries, including Denmark, are reinterpreting the treaty to make it easier to deport criminals and illegal immigrants. “This has to be taken seriously because it’s also about trust and faith in our democracy. If conventions and judges make our laws instead of elected politicians, we lose faith in our democracy,” Bierre added.
Asked what Cyprus should focus on when it holds the EU Presidency from January 1, 2026, Bjerre said key European issues such as security, defense and competitiveness should be top priorities. “I sincerely wish the President of Cyprus all the best in this matter and I am sure he will.”
