By Laura Ingemarsson
The time has come for Brussels to swap out the red and white Polish flags for another set of red and white flags. Poland鈥檚 presidency of the Council has come to an end 鈥 and it鈥檚 now Denmark鈥檚 turn at the helm.Presiding over the Council is a rotating role, passed among member states every six months. The country holding the presidency wields the gavel during negotiations and acts as a mediator in the often heated policy discussions between ministers. The role, however, doesn鈥檛 only come with political responsibilities 鈥 it鈥檚 also rich in tradition. One of the more surprising ones is music.A Spotify playlist, featuring each country鈥檚 music, has been released by every EU presidency since 2019.But for those eagerly awaiting to enjoy some Danish hits curated by the brand new presidency, we have some sad news to share… Copenhagen has surprisingly decided to disrupt the tradition.鈥淭here will be no Danish Presidency Spotify playlist,鈥 the presidency told Euronews Culture, declining to explain the reason why.Has the tradition reached the Finnish line?The now broken tradition of national playlists originally stems from Finland’s presidency in 2019. The playlist, titled 鈥淪ongs from Finland,鈥 was handpicked by Helsinki and features around 25 tracks 鈥 of course including 鈥淪andstorm鈥 by Darude.鈥淲e are delighted that the Spotify playlist created during Finland鈥檚 presidency has gone on to inspire subsequent presidencies,鈥 said a spokesperson at the Finnish EU representation.鈥淢usic is a powerful way to share stories about cultural identity,鈥 they added.The winner takes it allOne of the most popular playlists, based on download statistics, is the Swedish one from the first half of 2023, which still boasts almost 6000 saves. As a strong music-exporting nation, Sweden, perhaps unsurprisingly, chose to feature songs by ABBA, Avicii and Zara Larsson 鈥 and the numbers suggest that it was a success. 鈥淲e had it playing in the elevator at the office of the Swedish EU representation for six months, from early morning until the last person went home at night. Eventually, our colleagues found the volume setting and turned it down,鈥 a Swedish spokesperson admitted.Polished curationTurning to Instagram, the Poles crowdsourced their playlist curation by asking followers to pick their favorite Polish songs from the 1960s to modern hits.鈥淲e collected around 200 songs from people and then narrowed it down. We wanted a wide array of genres and artists,鈥 explained the Warsaw office of the Polish presidency.When asked about the risk of the tradition ending and their playlist being the last, they said: 鈥淲e hope that the tradition doesn鈥檛 die. It鈥檚 not too late. When you鈥檙e just getting into the presidency, you鈥檙e overtaken by joy, enthusiasm and work. Once they get through the first weeks, they might come around.鈥漌e love to believe that hope springs eternal but signals we’ve received suggest otherwise and that there won’t be a Danish playlist. Still, that shouldn鈥檛 stop anyone from enjoying hits like ‘Natteravn’ by Rasmus Seebach, Aqua鈥檚 ‘Barbie Girl’ or maybe the Grammy nominated 鈥7 Years鈥 by soul-pop duo Lukas Graham.