GUE/NGL MEP Søren Søndergaard called on Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt to heed the call for a genuine solution to the crisis rather than more austerity.

"The current Danish government won the September elections on a promise to invest to overcome the crisis rather than engage in savage austerity; to exit the crisis by creating jobs, not destroying jobs. These questions are even more relevant throughout the EU as a whole as unemployment soars. 5 million are unemployed in Spain and youth unemployment stands at over 20% in 18 EU countries."

"The Danish presidency programme, however, reads like a Merkozy tract - no ​​investment, just cuts. Such a policy will lead to more unemployment and our group believes this is a disastrous policy."

Søndergaard concluded by telling Thorning Schmidt that we do not need more EU-dictated cuts, financial covenants or treaties to degrade public services and cut wages. "The peoples of Europe need work to improve our common welfare and the Danish Presidency has 6 months to show whether it is part of the solution or part of the problem."

GUE/NGL Press Contacts:

David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu

gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu

European United Left / Nordic Green Left

European Parliamentary Group

www.guengl.eu