Danish Referendums In The Process Of European Integration

Denmark,as one of the Nordic developed countries and an EU member,has its own special role in EU.Although Denmark is a member of EU,it's not a Euro-zone country and does not participate in certain key areas of European integration cooperation,e.g.the EU unified defense cooperation,and the cooperation in the field of justice and internal affairs.Nor does it accept its European citizenship.This was largely due to the outcome of the 1992 referendum on the Maastricht Treaty,when the Danish people vetoed the treaty,leading Denmark onto a "specific" path toward European integration.The object of this study is the Danish referendums in the process of European integration,i.e.Denmark's referendums in the process of its joining the European Union and its participation in the EU affairs.This study analyzes the history of Danish participation in European integration from the perspective of referendums.The main purpose is to understand the role of Denmark in the process of European integration,which is of great significance to the understanding of Denmark's relations with Europe and the development of EU.lDenmark's eight referendums on European Integration have been categorized according to different time periods---the EC period,the EC-EU transition period and the period of EU expansion.The analysis of the three periods is made from the aspect of the foreign and domestic political environment,the outcome and the impact of the referendums.Among the three periods,the study is specially focused on the EC-EU transition period,therein the two referendums in 1992 and 1993.Methodologies adopted in this research study are document analysis,historical analysis and case analysis.This study is on one hand innovative,due to the insufficient studies about Denmark in China,and there has been no such research ever conducted from the perspective of referendums.On the other hand,Denmark's particularity in EU makes itself valuable in the studies of European integration.At the end of this study,the conclusions revealed from the referendums in various periods of Denmark are discussed.First,the outcome of a referendum is closely connected with the domestic political environment.Second,there exists a fundamental contradiction between the elite nature of the European integration and the democratic nature of the referendums.Thus,the results of the referendums often turn out disagreeing with the government and political parties.In addition,referendum is often taken as a political means by the government to avoid political risks in participating in EU affairs.The study also summarizes some of the characteristics of Denmark's participation in European integration.First,Denmark's original intention to join the EC is to serve the economic interests of its market,which misled the Danish people for along time in believing that the EC/EU is simply an economic organization,ignoring the fact that the establishment of EC was strongly politically oriented.Second,the Danish government is of both radical and conservative attitude towards participation in the EU.Third,the complexity of the Danish domestic political environment and the high degree of democracy in political decision-making make it difficult for the government to maintain a single and stable EU-policy.Finally,yet importantly,as EU is confronting more and more problems and challenges,the support rate for the anti-EU political parties has been rising continuously in Denmark,showing the skepticism towards EU is being increasingly popular among the Danish people.