Little impact from Danish EU presidency: media

(COPENHAGEN) - Non-euro country Denmark, which discretely took over the European Union's rotating presidency on Sunday, will have little power to resolve the crisis ravaging the continent, Danish media said.

That is because "Denmark does not have the euro, and because the European presidency no longer has the same importance as before," the Ritzau news agency wrote.

"Politically, Denmark will have little impact on the aspect of European cooperation that, for now, is mainly attracting attention," it said as Copenhagen took the reins of the EU presidency from Poland.

"Formally, Denmark cannot and should not resolve the euro crisis," it insisted.

The news agency, however, hailed the left-leaning government and particularly Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and European Affairs Minister Nicolai Wamman for their expressed aim to try to bridge the differences between the 17-member eurozone and the full 27-member bloc.

Swedish local daily Sydsvenska meanwhile predicted that Denmark would remain a "player in the power game" surrounding the euro crisis.

Ritzau maintained that Denmark, with little power to end the crisis, would "focus its political energy on having an efficient presidency in all the areas within the EU where Danish ministers are invited to sit at the negotiating table... especially on environmental issues."

The European presidency also offers Denmark a possibility to "make itself visible" in the cultural arena, Ritzau said.

The small Scandinavian country has an ambitious cultural agenda during its six months at the helm, with events planned all over Europe promoting among other things Danish filmmaking and music.