COPENHAGEN -- Denmark's presidency of the European Union from July 1 will focus on what Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls "three es" -- enlargement, employment, environment.

Despite the Danes' reputation for throwing out EU initiatives such as the single currency, support for EU membership in the prosperous Nordic country is at a record high.

Keen to unite the long-divided European continent and extend economic prosperity and political stability, enlargement is the only EU issue center-right Rasmussen will deal with in the coming six-month presidency, Reuters said.

"We have a historic and moral obligation to seize the present opportunity to create peaceful cooperation across the entire continent," Rasmussen said in a recent speech.

"I firmly believe enlargement constitutes a 'win-win situation'. Everybody will benefit from enlargement." The goals are an echo of "three es" targeted by Sweden as EU president in the first half of 2001 -- enlargement, employment, environment. Denmark is taking on the rotating presidency from Spain.

Even the subject of immigration and asylum, a top concern of voters in Denmark as in many other West European countries, is being subordinated to the expansion issue.

The two are in fact related. But Brussels hopes to defuse fears in current members that enlargement will lead to a flood of cheap labor and weakening of external borders making it easier for illegal immigrants from Third World countries to enter the union.

The 15-nation EU aims to finish talks by the end of the year with 10 mainly East European states keen to join the bloc. That would end a process begun at a Copenhagen summit in 1993 which promised eventual membership to ex-Soviet bloc nations.

Rasmussen hopes to clinch deals with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta so they can join in 2004.

Nothing but Enlargement At the start of this year the Danish government set up a presidency steering committee to keep everything except enlargement off the table at a Copenhagen summit in December.

Even so, Denmark cannot hope for much progress on the final accession negotiations until after the September 22 elections in Germany, where concern about the impact of opening the EU to the East is high.

Nevertheless, Rasmussen will depart from the tradition of a presidency to work for his own key issues and has told his ministers not to "bother" him with unsolved problems including thorny issues like fisheries and tax reform.

"These issues must be solved among the responsible ministers and escalation to the Council of Ministers and the Copenhagen Summit is not an option," said one Danish senior minister, who did not want to be named.

Denmark is saddled with one of the most ambitious agendas of any presidency. Apart from the eastward expansion -- and how to finance it -- Ireland has still to ratify the Nice Treaty, which is the regulatory foundation for the enlargement.

And prospects for a solution to the divided island of Cyprus are uncertain. A solution would be an advantage but not a condition for granting the Mediterranean island membership, the EU has said.

Agricultural and fisheries reforms, work on the bloc's future constitutional shape and continued efforts toward a common asylum policy are also on the agenda.

"The Danish presidency will be judged on enlargement," said Lykke Friis, senior analyst at the Danish Institute of International Affairs.

"Anything that could block the enlargement will be kicked over to the Greeks to deal with," she said.

Greece takes over the presidency on January 1, 2003.

Public Support Rasmussen is not only extremely determined; the political climate at home and abroad makes him optimistic about achieving the goal of expanding the wealthy EU.

In Denmark, support for EU membership has never been higher.

Sixty-five percent of Danes would say "yes" if they had to vote today on whether to join the EU, a recent Gallup Poll showed -- more than in the 1972 vote on joining what was then the EEC.

At the same time, 62 percent support enlargement of the union, with less than one quarter against. In Parliament only the two extremes of the far-left Unity List and far-right Danish People's Party oppose EU membership.

Paradoxically, the anti-immigrant DPP, which became the third biggest party in last November's elections, acts as the center-right government's parliamentary support on most issues.

Rasmussen stirred unease abroad last November when he won an election on pledges to crack down on immigration.

But the strong showing of far-rightist Jean-Marie le Pen in France's presidential elections and the murdered Dutch populist politician Pim Fortuyn forced other EU leaders to talk tough on immigration.

That in turn made Rasmussen look like a farsighted leader in tune with public concerns, boosting his standing in the European Union.

"They (EU leaders) are really listening to him," one EU diplomat said. "He seems to have a good impact."

Six Votes Since the vote on joining 30 years ago, Danes have voted another five times on key European issues, more than any other member state. And with two out of six possible "no"s, Danes are often depicted as diehard Euroskeptics.

"But this could not be further from the truth," the think-tank Monday morning said in a report on the EU presidency.

"Danes are probably among the most informed of Europe's citizens when it comes to the intricacies of the debate over the future of European integration," it said.

The many referendums, and the large number of no-votes in each of them, have ensured that Danish politicians have always had the wishes of the electorate in mind when negotiating in Brussels.

In 1992, Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty on increased European cooperation, threatening to derail the whole project.

They approved the accord in a new plebiscite in 1993 after winning opt-outs from the single currency and joint defense and legal and asylum policy.

In September 2000, Danes rejected euro membership despite solid support from industry, trade unions and the political establishment.

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, foreign minister from 1992-1993, said there was something in the Danes' reputation as foot-dragging on the EU, but this was due to Denmark's tradition of keeping promises once made.

"That's why it can sometimes be a bit difficult to make us promise anything," he said.