First No, Then Yes: The Danish Referendums on the Maastricht Treaty 1992 and 1993

Abstract

AbstractThis article considers the behaviour of Danish voters in the two referendums on the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty). The first, in June 1992, rejected the Treaty and threatened the whole union process. The second, in May 1993, approved the Treaty. The development of opinion before and between the referendums is considered, and it is demonstrated that resistance to the Maastricht Treaty was not an effect of opposition to membership of the Community, but the result of a preference for an intergovernmental type of European Co‐operation.