2022 Danish European Union opt-out referendum

A referendum on the abolition of the defense opt-out, one of the country's opt-outs from the European Union is to be held in Denmark on 1 June 2022.[2][3][lower-alpha 2] The referendum was announced on 6 March 2022 following a broad multi-party defense agreement reached during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4]

Danish European Union opt-out referendum
Wednesday 1 June 2022
1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)
Do you vote for or against Denmark's participation in the European defence and security co-operation by abolishing the EU defense opt-out? (Proposed law on Denmark's participation in the European defence and security co-operation)[lower-alpha 1][1]
Results of the election
Yes:      50–55%      55–60%      60–65%      65–70%      70%+
No:      50–55%      55–60%      60–65%      65–70%      70%+

Background

After the rejection of the Maastricht Treaty in the 1992 referendum, the Edinburgh Agreement was reached, which gave Denmark four opt-outs in the European Union, with one of these opt-outs being on defense matters. The Maastricht Treaty was subsequently ratified in 1993. The defense opt-out means that Denmark does not participate in the Common Security and Defence Policy or EU military operations.[5] In addition, the opt-out means that Denmark does not participate in the decision processes in the EU related to military operations.[6]

This is the third referendum to be held in relation to country's opt-outs. In 2000 the Danish electorate rejected the adoption of the euro as national currency and in 2015 a proposal to modify the justice opt-out was also rejected.

For a referendum to be rejected, a majority of participating voters must vote against, and the voters voting against must represent at least 30% of the electorate. However the parties behind the defense agreement have agreed that the result of the referendum should stand regardless of the turnout.[7] As such, the referendum effectively has no turnout requirement.

Campaign

The defense agreement was signed and presented by the leaders of the Social Democrats, Venstre, Socialist People's Party, Social Liberal Party, and the Conservative Party.[4][8] The parties endorsed the agreement, which also included an increased defense spending and the aim of ridding the country's dependency on Russian gas. Liberal Alliance, Christian Democrats, and Independent Greens have also endorsed the "Yes" option.[9]

The Danish People's Party, New Right, Young Conservatives and the Red-Green Alliance have opposed the abolition of the opt-out, recommending the electorate vote "No".[9]

On 30 March, the Danish Foreign Ministry released two draft laws for organising the referendum and joining the Common Security and Defence Policy.[10] Following this, the wording of the referendum question, which did not mention the European Union nor the opt-out,[lower-alpha 3] was criticised by the Danish People's Party and the Red-Green Alliance.[11] Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod defended the wording, emphasising that the vote was about joining the other 26 EU member states. Following the criticism, Kofod announced a changing to the wording on 7 April, which now reads as "Do you vote for or against Denmark's participation in the European defence and security co-operation by abolishing the EU defense opt-out?"[12]

Concern was raised that eliminating the opt-out and participating in the CSDP could eventually lead to Denmark having to join a European army if one were to be created down the road. Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod committed that any such change would require treaty revisions, which would be put to the Danish people for approval in a new referendum.[13]

Opinion polls
Date(s) Polling agency Sample Question Yes No Undecided Lead
20-27 April 2022 Epinion 2,090 What would you vote at the referendum? 39% 26% 35% 13%
18-24 April 2022 Voxmeter What would you vote at the referendum? 39.5% 32.1% 28.4% 7.4%
4-10 April 2022 Voxmeter/Ritzau 38.8% 32.4% 28.8% 6.4%
31 March–7 April 2022 Epinion 2,102 36% 27% 37% 9%
28 March-3 April 2022 Voxmeter/Ritzau 1,007 39.2% 35.8% 25% 3.4%
22–28 March 2022 Voxmeter 1,000 Abolition of defence opt-out 40.3% 35.4% 24.3% 4.9%
14–20 March 2022 Voxmeter 1,509 38.2% 30.9% 30.9% 7.3%
6–20 March 2022 Wilke 1,000 42% 30% 28% 12%
8–15 March 2022 Epinion 1,020 38% 23% 39% 15%
7–11 March 2022 Voxmeter 1,509 44.2% 28.7% 27.1% 15.5%
7–8 March 2022 Megafon 2,054 Abolish defence opt-out? 55% 23% 22% 32%
6 March: The government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announces a referendum on the Danish defence opt-out to be held on 1 June.[8]
3–4 March 2022 Megafon 1,092 Drop the defence reservation and join a joint EU army? 49% 27% 23% 22%

Notes
  1. Danish: Stemmer du ja eller nej til, at Danmark kan deltage i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar ved at afskaffe EU-forsvarsforbeholdet? (Forslag til lov om Danmarks deltagelse i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar)
  2. The vote will not take place on the Faroe Islands or Greenland
  3. Do you vote for or against Denmark's participation in the European defence and security co-operation?
    Danish: Stemmer du ja eller nej til, at Danmark kan deltage i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar? (Forslag til lov om Danmarks deltagelse i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar)

References
  1. "Formulering på stemmeseddel ved folkeafstemning minder om direkte snyderi, mener Enhedslisten". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  2. "Danskerne skal stemme om forsvarsforbeholdet 1. juni". TV2 (in Danish). 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  3. "Endeligt udkast til forslag til Lov om Danmarks deltagelse i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar" (PDF). 30 March 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  4. "Nationalt kompromis om dansk sikkerhedspolitik" [National compromise on Danish security policy] (PDF). Regeringen (in Danish). 6 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  5. "Danmark og EU". Forsvarsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  6. "Hvad betyder det, om det bliver et ja eller et nej til forsvarsforbeholdet? - TV 2". TV2 (in Danish). 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  7. "Endeligt udkast til forslag til Lov om Danmarks deltagelse i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar" (PDF). 30 March 2022. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  8. "Forsvarsforbeholdet skal til folkeafstemning 1. juni, og Forsvaret skal styrkes" (in Danish). DR. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  9. "Her er de stærkeste argumenter for og imod forsvarsforbeholdet - TV 2". TV2 (in Danish). 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  10. "Høring om to lovforslag vedrørende folkeafstemning om Danmarks deltagelse i det europæiske samarbejde om sikkerhed og forsvar". via.ritzau.dk. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  11. "Formulering på stemmeseddel ved folkeafstemning minder om direkte snyderi, mener Enhedslisten - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  12. "Ordlyden på stemmesedlen om forsvarsforbeholdet ændres - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  13. "Kofod forsøger at berolige EU-skeptikere: Lover ny afstemning, hvis fælles EU-hær bliver realitet". DR. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2022-04-30.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.