Danish parliament to vote on EU budget pact

(COPENHAGEN) - A new European Union budget pact will be put to Denmark's parliament for a vote and not a referendum, the justice ministry said on Wednesday, rejecting several political parties' calls for a plebiscite.

At the end of January, 25 of 27 EU countries including Denmark said they were in favour of adding to their national constitutions a "golden rule" requiring balanced budgets.

The pact is to apply at the very minimum to the 17 eurozone members, as well as any other EU countries that want to adhere to it. Denmark is a member of the European Union but not of the eurozone.

Several Danish political parties, including the far left Red Greens as well as the far right, had called for a referendum on whether to adopt the pact, arguing that it threatened Denmark's sovereignty.

The justice ministry argued however that Denmark would not be transferring any of its sovereignty to the EU by adhering to the pact, and that the issue therefore did not merit a referendum.

The pact can be voted by parliament "following the usual procedure," the report said.

No date has been set yet for the vote, although the budget pact is due to enter into force on January 1, 2013.