Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen talks by video link-up today with the leaders of Australia, Mexico, Bangla Desh, Ethiopia and UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, as part of his Copenhagen Commitment Circle designed to push for a politically binding agreement at the UN Climate Summit (COP15) in Copenhagen in December.

“An agreement in Copenhagen requires more dynamic movement. There are 32 days left to Copenhagen. The final formal negotiations are taking place in Barcelona at the moment – progress seems limited and it has been slow,” Løkke Rasmussen tells pol.dk.

“COP15 is a clear priority,” he says adding that apart from video-linking with leaders to discuss moving the process forward, Løkke Rasmussen has been invited to Saturday’s G20 meeting in Scotland to report on the status of negotiations.

Dynamism
“I think that with the right dynamic cooperation from the heads of state and government we can reach a transparent, binding political agreement in Copenhagen,” Løkke Rasmussen says.

“It would be able to work immediately and be a guideline for negotiations leading to a treaty,” he says adding that the political agreement would include the all-important financing issues that have dogged the negotiating process.

EU
On European Union issues, the prime minister reiterated his delight at the Czech Constitutional Court’s verdict on Tuesday that the EU’s Lisbon Treaty did not run contrary to the Czech Constitution, allowing EU-sceptic President Vaclav Klaus to sign off on the document.

“Now, however, the European Union needs a pause in treaty reforms,” the Prime Minister said.

But he went on to say that Danmark’s position regarding its own EU opt-outs in the fields of legal cooperation, defence cooperation and the contentious issue of Denmark’s membership of the euro were up for discussion.

Referendum?
This morning, politiken.dk reported that the Social Liberal and Socialist People’s parties were prepared to accept an opt-in to EU legal cooperation, without Denmark being forced to embrace the EU’s common immigration policy, possibly bringing a Danish referendum on its opt-outs closer.

“I have noted the reports from the Social Liberals and Socialist People’s Party this morning with great satisfaction – particularly since their views have otherwise been against removing the legal opt-out. It is a positive move that the parties now feel that this Parliament should determine how this should be done,” Løkke Rasmussen says.

But he added that there were prerequisites for a Danish referendum on Denmark’s opt-outs. “First of all there has to be a (parliamentary) alliance on the issue – and the Socialist People’s Party’s and Social Liberals’ position is positive. Secondly we have to decide when to carry out a referendum – and that decision must be when we have the greatest possibility of getting a ‘yes’,” Løkke Rasmussen says.

Although the current government has said it would like to hold a referendum in the current electoral period, Løkke Rasmussen suggested that it might not.

“If it can’t be in this electoral period, as the government has wished, then it will be in the next,” he says, adding that he has called all political parties to a meeting on November 25, to determine a way forward.

”What we have to consider is if you want to get rid of all three opt-outs – and that is what I want – is it sensible to take them one by one, with the result that the euro would remain as the final issue, or would it be more sensible to say that all the issues should be taken at once,” the prime minister says.