<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Ministers of Agriculture and Health received their Danish counterparts in Madrid on Monday to address the challenges of the upcoming Danish presidency of the EU Council, which begins on July 1, in the areas of their competence.</strong></h4> On the one hand, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, received the Minister of the Interior and Health of Denmark, Sophie Løhde, at the headquarters of her Department. “The shared challenges in health and the role of welfare states in strengthening public health systems in Europe have been addressed,” García declared through social networks. Sophie Løhde arrived in Spain as the first stage of a European tour that also includes Portugal, Italy and Greece. The objective of this trip, according to the Danish Government, is “to discuss health policy issues with four leading Member States in European health policy.” “There are a number of important issues on the European agenda during the Danish presidency” and, for that reason, the Danish minister's objective is “to promote pharmaceutical cooperation, the supply of critical medicines, the development of the health sector and a good framework for innovation in the life sciences sector,” it continued. For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, received his Danish counterpart, Jacob Jansen, with whom he analysed “the priorities of the next Danish presidency,” according to the Ministry in a press release. According to Planas, the Danish presidency will be crucial to advance on such important issues as the definition of the new budget of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the application of new genomic techniques (NTG) or the review of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The Spanish minister showed his full support for the Danish minister and expressed his confidence that the next Danish presidency “will continue along the path initiated by the Spanish one” to consider agriculture and fishing as “main activities from the perspective of economic, environmental and social sustainability”. According to the minister, all those aspects that guarantee a more competitive and innovative sector must be improved and supported. “I am meeting with my good Spanish colleague to prepare the Danish Presidency of the EU”, declared Jansen. “In a turbulent world, it is important to have a strong Europe, in which Denmark plays a central role”, he added.
