Danes Say No – and Yes: The Maastricht Referendum and its Legacy

Abstract

When its voters turned down the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, Denmark became the first among today’s EU member states to cast a No vote in a referendum on Euro‐ pean integration. With nine such votes, Denmark has held more referendums on EC/EU matters than any country bar Ireland. Of these, six have resulted in a Yes, while three have produced a No. This article analyses and discusses the role of referendums in Danish EU polit‐ ics and their impact, both in the short and long term, on how Danish EU policy is formulated and conducted. It focuses on the so-called Maastricht-Edinburgh inter‐ mezzo of 1992-1993, namely the process related to the two referendums which re‐ jected Danish accession to the European Union and paved the way for membership on an opt-out basis. The article will further turn its eye towards the European level to view how the Maastricht-Edinburgh intermezzo influenced and set an example for EC/EU politics and policy at the broader European level. In this way, the article may be seen as an apt prelude to the 50-year anniversary of Denmark’s member‐ ship of the EC/EU due to be celebrated - or regretted - in 2022.