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| REFERENDUMS
HELD ON EUROPEAN MATTERS: 3
1972:
EU - Accession (Yes 63 % - No 37 % - Turnout 90 %)
1982: Greeland: Remain in the EC? (No 54 % - Yes 46 % - Turnout
75 %)
1986: Single European Act (Yes 56 % - No 44 % - Turnout 75 %)
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CONSTITUTIONAL
CONDITIONS - Constitution
of Denmark
Binding
referendum mandatory if constitutional amendment effected. Otherwise
only evitable if not approved by a majority of 5/6 from members
of parliament. |
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RESULTS
The Maastricht
Treaty was rejected by Danish people in a referendum on 2.06.1992
(50.7% no, 49.3% yes, turnout 82.9%). After that defeat of the treaty,
Denmark negotiated and received four opt-outs from portions of the
treaty: Economic and Monetary Union, Union Citizenship, Justice
and Home Affairs and Common Defense, a second referendum was held
on 18/5/1993 where the Treaty was approved (56.7% yes, 43.3% no)
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PROCEDURE
AND DEBATE
The
subject of the debate in relation to the referendum on 2 June 1992,
which resulted in a ‘no’ vote, was whether the Maastricht
Treaty implied a supranational development of the Community. General
political aspects of the Community did not play a great role in
the arguments. For the yes voters, it was a question of the necessity
of cooperation and the fear of standing alone. For the no’s
the issue was the fear of loss of independence and opposition to
decisions being moved to Brussels.
The Edinburgh decision whereby Denmark was allowed four exemptions
to the TEU was, to a large extent, based on accommodating the Socialist
People’s Party. Accommodating this party was seen as necessary
by the government in order to convince the voters in a second referendum
to vote in support of the treaty.
After
the adoption of the Edinburgh protocol another ratification debate
in parliament became necessary, which consisted of a governmental
proposal of three bills, namely the ratification of the Maastricht
Treaty, the acceptance of the Edinburgh protocol, and a law requiring
a binding referendum. On 30 March 1993, the Danish parliament
accepted all three bills Maastricht: 154 in favor, 16 against; Edinburgh
and referendum bill: 153 in favor, 16 against)
(Giortler, 1993; Laursen, 1994: 77). The Maastricht Treaty then
easily cleared the five-sixths-majority requirement and strictly
speaking no second referendum was necessary. |
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RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS AND MATERIAL
König,
T. Hug, S. (2000), Ratifying
Maastricht - Parliamentary Votes on International Treaties and Theoretical
Solution Concepts, European Union Politics, Volume 1 (1): 93–124.
Laursen, F.
(1994), Denmark and the Ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, in:
Laursen, Finn / Vanhoonacker, Sophie (Ed.): The Ratification of
the Maastricht Treaty: Issues, Debates and Future Implications,
Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, S. 147-180.
Larsen, H. (1999),
British
and Danish European Policies in the 1990s: A Discourse Approach,
European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 5(4): 451–483.
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