Denmark's 'tap water' presidency vows efficiency at low cost - Main contents

COPENHAGEN - Tap water instead of bottled water, fewer gifts for dignitaries, more use of public transportation - cost-efficiency is to be the hallmark of Denmark's EU presidency.

"We are very cost-efficient in Denmark, so we want an efficient presidency at a low cost," Danish EU affairs minister Nicolai Wammen told a group of Brussels-based journalists on Monday (9 January) in Copenhagen.

Pointing to the water bottles for the audience, Wammen quipped: "This is the last time we have bottles on the table during the Danish presidency. We will serve only tap water from now on."

Less gifts for dignitaries and increased use of public transportation will also be part of a strategy that aims to lower the overall cost to a few dozen million euro. The Polish presidency in the second half of 2011was lavish by comparison. It ran up a €115 million bill.

A dinner organised for journalists at the residence of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt i later that evening showed that the cost-cutting strategy was already in place. Pitchers of tap water accompanied the Danish white wine.