The majority of Danes who went to the polls this Thursday rejected the idea of deepening their participation in the EU.
The referendum proposed opting in to the EU’s justice and home affairs legislation, while allowing Denmark to select which regulations it would adopt.
This is the kind of arrangement which the UK and Ireland have – they can decide case by case whether or not to participate in some areas of EU policy.
Currently, Denmark has a blanket opt-out policy.
Voters who wished to maintain the opt-out formed 53.1% of the total count, while those who said ‘yes’ to changing to opt-in were 46.9%.
Voter turnout was 72% of those eligible.
When Danish voters rejected the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the nation was allowed to opt out of several EU policy areas, including justice and home affairs. Perhaps for this reason, the Danes approved the Maastricht agreement the next year.
With the success of the ‘no’ campaign in this referendum, Denmark now faces the question of whether it can remain in Europol, the EU law enforcement body, which tackles cross-border crime, trafficking and terrorism.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who led the ‘yes’ campaign, addressed fears that Denmark would be made to accept obligatory EU refugee quotas by promising that Denmark would remain outside EU asylum rules.
He promised a specific referendum on the issue before any change in Denmark’s strict immigration policies.
Nevertheless, the anti-EU and anti-immigration Danish People’s Party seemed to sway more voters with its argument that change would hand over too much power to Brussels.
The referendum itself had been described as complex, making some voters reject the proposal on the basis that too much had been crammed into it. Others voted ‘yes’ recognising a need to make compromises.
