New Left Review I/195, September-October 1992

Niels Finn Christiansen

The Danish No to Maastricht

June 2nd 1992 was a remarkable day in the history of Denmark, and perhaps in the history of post-World War II Europe. In a referendum a majority of Danes rejected the Treaty of Maastricht, which a few months earlier had so laboriously been knit together by the ec heads of government, their foreign ministers and Brussels bureaucrats. It is true that the No victory was won by a very narrow margin—50.7 per cent against, as opposed to 49.3 per cent for, a difference of approximately 40,000 votes. Nevertheless, rejection of the Treaty dealt a severe blow to the political and economic establishment in the country; and, notwithstanding Denmark’s relatively minor status within the ec, it certainly disturbed the Eurocrats. Furthermore, it seems to have played a decisive role in François Mitterrand’s decision to put the issue to the French people in a similar referendum.

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