Danish European Union opt-outs referendum

Denmark

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Denmark holds a number of "opt-outs" from European Union policies. These opt-outs relate to the Common Security and Defence Policy, citizenship, police and justice, and the adoption of the euro. The present government plans to hold a referendum on abolishing the opt-outs on defence and justice, but not on the euro. However, no definite plans have yet been announced. ^[1]

Proposals

Background

One or more referendums on abolishing one or more the opt-outs were announced by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in his speech on 22 November 2007 after he won the 2007 parliamentary election.^[2] It was not announced whether the referendum would only offer a full repeal of all opt-outs, or a case-by-case choice, and no date was announced, except that it would be before the 2011 Danish parliamentary election.^[3] The V/K (Liberal-Conservative) government had been planning to hold a referendum on abolishing the opt-outs (or at least the euro opt-out) since at least 2004, following a favourable change in public opinion, but the discussions and controversy regarding the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and the Treaty of Lisbon had delayed this.^[4]

The referendum was originally expected to be held in the autumn of 2008^[5][6][7][8] but following Ireland's rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon, Fogh Rasmussen stated that this would not happen.^[9] In early 2009, it was announced that Fogh Rasmussen expected to hold a referendum on Denmark joining the Eurozone in 2010, as he believed it was possible to meet the demands of the Euro-sceptic Socialist People's Party.^[10]

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Government

Following the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Secretary General of NATO in 2009, his successor, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, announced that the opt-outs would be put to a referendum "when the time is right", which was seen as an indication that he did not necessarily intend to proceed with a referendum.^[11] Following a meeting with the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in mid-May 2009, Løkke Rasmussen stated that he hoped at least a referendum on the common currency would take place before the next parliamentary elections in 2011.^[12][13] At the same time, he said that Denmark was already using the euro (because of the currency peg); but they had decided to call it "danske kroner". However, no referendum was held and Løkke Rasmussen's coalition lost the election in the autumn of 2011.

The leaders of the three largest opposition parties, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Villy Søvndal, and Margrethe Vestager had suggested that a referendum on abolishing the opt-outs concerning the Common Security and Defence Policy and the Justice and Home Affairs be held on 23 March 2010.^[14]

Competitiveness Pact

During the European sovereign debt crisis in early 2011, during negotiations over a new "Competitiveness Pact" to stabilise the euro and reform economic governance in the European Union, Løkke Rasmussen proposed to hold a referendum on the opt-outs before June 2011 in order to have a mandate to participate in the negotiations over the Competitiveness Pact. However, some politicians warned that Rasmussen's low popularity might cause the referendum to result in a protest vote against him and his government.^[15][16] The Prime Minister's suggestion was criticised by an "expert", claiming that the time for a referendum was ill-chosen, pointing out that Denmark was set to hold general elections later that year.^[17] Politiken suggested that this might be his deliberate intention, pointing out that the parties currently in opposition had different opinions on two of the opt-outs (although all parties in the opposition wanted to abolish the defence opt-out). Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the Dansk Folkeparti, didn't like the Prime Minister's wording.^[18]

Helle-Thorning Schmidt Government

After the victory of the left-wing coalition under Thorning-Schmidt in the September 2011 elections, the new government announced that it planned to hold referendums on abolishing the defence opt-out and on either abolishing the justice opt-out or modifying it to allow Denmark to opt-in to various parts of it. ^[19]

Opt-outs

Further information: Opt-outs in the European Union

Denmark obtained four opt-outs from the Maastricht Treaty following the treaty's initial rejection in a 1992 referendum. The opt-outs are outlined in the Edinburgh Agreement and concern the Economic and monetary union (EMU), the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and the citizenship of the European Union. With these opt-outs the Danish people accepted the treaty in a second referendum held in 1993.

The EMU opt-out means that Denmark is not obliged to participate in the third phase of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, that is, to replace the Danish krone with the euro. The abolition of the euro opt-out was put to a referendum in 2000 and was rejected. The CSDP opt-out originally meant Denmark would not be obliged to join the Western European Union (which originally handled the defence tasks of the EU). Now it means that Denmark does not participate in the European Union's foreign policy where defence is concerned. Hence it does not take part in decisions, does not act in that area and does not contribute troops to missions conducted under the auspices of the European Union.^[20] The JHA opt-out exempts Denmark from certain areas of home affairs. Significant parts of these areas were transferred from the third European Union pillar to the first under the Amsterdam Treaty; Denmark's opt-outs from these areas were kept valid through additional protocols. Acts made under those powers are not binding on Denmark except for those relating to the Schengen Agreement, which are instead conducted on an intergovernmental basis with Denmark. The citizenship opt-out stated that European citizenship did not replace national citizenship; this opt-out was rendered meaningless when the Amsterdam Treaty adopted the same wording for all members. Under the Treaty of Lisbon, Denmark can change its opt-out from a complete opt-out to the case-by-case opt-in version applying to Ireland and the United Kingdom whenever they wish.^[21]

Polls and analyses

A poll from early June, 2008 saw a clear majority in favour of repealing the defence and judicial issues opt-outs, a very close race regarding the euro and a clear majority against repealing the citizenship opt-outs.^[22] Following an increase in support for abolishing the opt-outs, support dropped in mid-May 2009; in January 2009, 49.8 % were in favour of having the Euro as Danish currency, dropping to 45.2% against and 43.7% in favour in May 2009.^[23] Support for abolishing opt-outs on legal and defence cooperation has also dwindled to equal numbers pro and against.^[23]

Afterwards support for abolishing the opt-outs increased again. As of October 2009, there was a majority in favour of abolishing each one of the four opt-outs, the only difference being in the size of majority: Absolute majorities are were in favour of entering the Eurozone (50% in favour, 43% opposed) and of a Common European Defence (66% in favour, 21% opposed). There were relative majorities in favour of judicial cooperation (47% in favour, 35% opposed) and European Citizenship (40% in favour, 30% opposed). When asked, how they would vote when they had to decide about all four opt-outs in a package, a relative majority of 42% would vote in favour of abolishing the opt-outs and 37% would vote in favour of keeping the opt-outs. ^[24]

Following the European sovereign debt crisis, particularly the financial market turmoil of 2011, support for the euro dropped dramatically.^[25]

The social liberal broadsheet Politiken is in favour of the referendum and supports a case-by-case vote on all four issues; it sees the possibility to break the "yes-or-no" deadlock over EU politics in Denmark.^[26][27] The liberal conservative broadsheet Jyllands-Posten is also in favour of abolishing all four opt-outs.^[28]

See also

• Denmark and the euro
• Opt-outs in the European Union

References

1. ^ Brand, Constant (13.10.2011). "Denmark scraps border-control plans". European Voice. http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2011/october/denmark-scraps-border-control-plans/72315.aspx. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
2. ^ Olsen, Jan M. (2007-11-22). "Denmark to Hold New Referendum on Euro". Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDW37gBHoyZFpk1GUOxK3U0VVzrgD8T2Q2DO0. Retrieved 2007-11-22. 
3. ^ Charter, David (2008-10-30). "Denmark currency crisis prompts euro re-think - Times Online". London: Business.timesonline.co.uk. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/europe/article5050240.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-22. 
4. ^ Parker, George; Eaglesham, Jean and Benoit, Betrand (2003-01-01). "Danes face second referendum on joining euro". Financial Times. http://search.ft.com/nonFtArticle?id=030101001087. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
5. ^ Danish PM says possible autumn referendum on EU opt-outs — EUbusiness.com - business, legal and economic news and information from the European Union^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Europa - Nachrichten - Kopenhagen strebt in die Euro-Zone". FTD.de. 2008-03-17. http://www.ftd.de/politik/europa/332353.html. Retrieved 2010-12-17. 
7. ^ Lisbeth Kirk. "EUobserver.com". EUobserver.com. http://euobserver.com/9/26115/?rk=1. Retrieved 2010-12-17. 
8. ^ "Besked om EU-afstemning efter sommer" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-06-11. http://politiken.dk/indland/article522042.ece. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
9. ^ "Fogh aflyser EU-afstemninger" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-08-07. http://politiken.dk/politik/article549035.ece. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
10. ^ "Fogh klar til eurovalg næste år" (in Danish). Politiken. 2009-01-22. http://politiken.dk/politik/article633756.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-22. 
11. ^ "S og R raser over Løkkes EU-nøl" (in Danish). DR. 2009-04-14. http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2009/04/14/150742.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
12. ^ "Løkke R.: Euro-vote this term?". Politiken. 2009-05-13. http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article710274.ece. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
13. ^ "Løkke: Vi skal stemme om euroen" (in Danish). Politiken. 2009-05-13. http://politiken.dk/politik/article710127.ece. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
14. ^ "Oppositionen vil stemme om EU-forbehold" (in Danish). Politiken. 2009-11-24. http://politiken.dk/politik/article843387.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-25. 
15. ^ http://euobserver.com/9/31912/?rk=1
16. ^ [1]
17. ^ http://politiken.dk/politik/ECE1211676/ekspert-loekkes-varslede-eu-afstemning-er-daarlig-timing/
18. ^ http://politiken.dk/politik/ECE1212057/pia-kjaersgaard-loekke-taler-sort/
19. ^ Pop, Valentina (04.10.2011). "New Danish government rolls back border controls". EUObserver.com. http://euobserver.com/22/113809. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
20. ^ Motivations and consequences of the Danish CSDP opt-out (Revue Stratégique n. 91-92): http://www.stratisc.org/Strategique_91-92_TDM.htm
21. ^ Europolitics (2007-11-07). "Treaty of Lisbon — Here is what changes!". Europolitics № 3407. Archived from the original on 27 November 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071127042143/http://www.europolitics.info/web/external-file/pdf/gratuit_en/Europolitics_3407_special_treaty.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-22. 
22. ^ "Danes Assess Reversion of EU Exemptions: Angus Reid Global Monitor". http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/30935/danes_assess_reversion_of_eu_exemptions. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
23. ^ ^{a b} "Poll: Danes say no to euro". Politiken. 2009-05-19. http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article710618.ece. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
24. ^ The above mentioned percentages do not sum up to 100%; the option "doesn't know / doesn't want to answer" accounts for the difference. In a vote however (as opposed to a poll) only "yes" and "no" answers are counted, which means all the above questions would get an absolute majority of "yes" in favour of repealing the opt-outs. |url=http://img.borsen.dk/img/cms/cmsmedia/857_content_2_3900.pdf
25. ^ Wienberg, Christian (27.09.2011). "Debt Crisis Pushes Danish Euro Opposition to Record, Poll Shows". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-27/debt-crisis-pushes-danish-euro-opposition-to-record-poll-shows.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
26. ^ Politiken mener » Blog Arkiv » Hvornår & hvordan - EU à la carte^{[dead link]}
27. ^ Courrier internati onal, eurotopics : the european press in 3 languages^{[dead link]}
28. ^ sp?langue=uk&publication=16/01/2008&cat=POLITICS&pi=2#2 Courrier international, eurotopics : the european press in 3 languages^{[dead link]}