UK referendum on EU will not sway Denmark

Even though Denmark and the United Kingdom share a form of alliance within the EU because both have opt-outs on certain areas of legislation, Minister for Europe Nikolaj Wammen said Wednesday that Britain stands alone on its referendum initiative announced by Prime Minister David Cameron, writes seven59.dk and borsen.dk.

Mr Wammen echoed his boss, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, by stating that it’s in Denmark’s best interest to place itself as close as possible to the core of the EU and stressing that the government ‘wouldn’t be hopping on the British referendum wagon’.

»Denmark has a strong alliance with a number of EU countries, including Sweden, Germany, France, and Holland, so we won’t be changing direction even if Britain pulls out,« he said, declining to comment on how far the EU should compromise to keep Britain in the union.

Not EU ‘a la carte’

»We need to wait and hear what Cameron’s demands are but it’s important to stress that the EU isn’t a buffet table where you can just pick and choose. You have to be a full-blown member of the community,« he added.

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