At a press conference in Copenhagen on January 6, 2012 the Danish Government presented the Presidency programme to the Danish and International press together with the diplomatic corps.

In the programme the four priorities and the most important issues of the Presidency are presented.

On the issue of "Enlargement":
The perspective regarding accession to the EU cooperation remains a strongincentive for candidate countries to implement difficultand wide-ranging reforms .    The candidate countries and other countries that have a European
perspective approach are thus moving closer to European standards for societal structure and economy .    
Historically, the enlargement is one of the EU’s most successful policies .    
The large-scale enlargement agreement reached in December 2002 was negotiated into place during the Danish
Presidency in 2002 .    In 2012, the continued credibility of the enlargement policy will remain a Danish priority .
The Danish Presidency will continue the EU’s enlargement policy based on the principle of the countries’ own merits as a basis for progress in the negotiations .    Against the background of this approach, the Danish Presidency will work towards taking further forward the enlargement negotiations with Iceland .    The Danish Presidency will also support a continuation of the enlargement negotiations with Turkey and the development of relations between Turkey and the EU .   
On the basis of the recommendations set out in the progress reports from 2011 and the discussions of the European Council in December 2011, the EU under the Danish Presidency will need to discuss and, potentially, decide on further steps to be taken with respect to the approximation of Serbia and Montenegro .    Lastly, the Presidency will monitor the consolidation of Croatia and the continuation of the country’s reform efforts after the accession treaty was signed with Croatia on 9 December 2011.

On the topic of "Research":

Research
As the most important matter in the area of research, the Council will need to negotiate the proposal on Horizon 2020 – the forthcoming framework programme for research and innovation .    The negotiations on this are to be seen in close conjunction with the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework .    The objective of the framework programme is to promote European research and technological development, with growth as the ultimate objective .    The Danish Presidency will work to increase the momentum in the negotiations to ensure as much progress as possible towards reaching a joint decision of the Council and the European Parliament .   
The Presidency will work for placing greater focus on the correlation between research, innovation and education. Excellence is to remain the sustaining principle and it is to be strengthened through several initiatives, including a strong European Research Council (ERC) as well as European world-class research infrastructures .    Similarly, the Presidency will make an effort to ensure that the framework programme is characterised by more  implificationand flexibility, which is a precondition for ensuring a more active involvement of industry .         Furthermore, the Council will need to negotiate an amendment to the regulation on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) as well as a proposal for Strategic  Innovation Agenda (SIA) with a view to
ensuring the forward-looking activities of the EIT .    The Council will also make an effort to achieve progress in the preliminary negotiations on the Euratom Programme (the research framework programme for nuclear research) .    In the area of space, the Commission communication on the European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation, GMES (Global  Monitoring for Environment and Security), will be  considered .