Karen Siune

The European union: The Danes said ‘no’ in 1992 but ‘yes’ in 1995: How and why?

Abstract The Danes said ‘no’ to the Maastricht Treaty in June 1992 because they were afraid of losing sovereignty and because they did not want any closer political integration in Europe, but they said ‘yes’ in reply to a new referendum in May 1993. What had happened? A number of explanations come to mind, but which comes closest to explaining what happened to the Danes between 1992 and 1993? The conclusion in this article is that very little happened to change attitudes to European integration, but that very little was enough to result in a ‘yes’, since only some 47,000 votes made the difference between ‘no’ and ‘yes’ in 1992. What actually happened had less to do with changes in attitudes and more to do with changes in perceptions of the European Union, and especially changes in the perception of the risk of losing national sovereignty. Mass media played a role in this perceptual change and played it very early in the process—not during the so-called campaign period running up to the referendum on 18 May 1993. A response to critical comments raised by Mark Franklin et al. to our analysis of the 1992 referendum is included.

The Danes and The Maastricht Treaty: The Danish EC Referendum of June 1992

Abstract The Danes feared loss of sovereignty and did not want any closer political integration. A great majority of Danes favour continued membership of the European Community but are against all kinds of political union. Fear of the economic consequences, if the referendum was rejected, was made clear by politicians and business representatives, nevertheless a small majority of the population preferred political freedom to economic benefits. And the government was faced with the problem how to compromise between the attitudes of the population and the expectations from the rest of the EC. A national compromise among the parties in the Danish Parliament reached at the end of October 1992 was by and large accepted at the Edinburgh summit, but the question whether the Danish public will accept it still remains.

Future Media Trends in Denmark

To forecast the changes, adaptations and innovations that the traditional media industry will have to face as a result of the introduction of new communication technology is not an easy task. Some changes and adaptations take place every day in a continuous discrete way, others are put on the agenda for political debate by challenging the established well-known structure of a given political system.