Denmark and the EU
Denmark joined the EEC/EU in 1973 after a referendum where 63.3% voted in favour of membership.
Denmark has strongly advocated that the Baltic countries should be allowed to join the EU as soon as possible. In the EU, Denmark has likewise championed that the 20% of the Union’s energy consumption must come from renewable sources by 2020 – a target adopted in March 2007. Denmark has signed the Schengen Agreement, which came into force in 2001 and allows completely free passage between a number of European countries.
Danish Reservations towards the EU
The Danish population has regarded the EU as an excellent forum for economic cooperation, but has only reluctantly accepted political integration.
As a result, the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 with its chapters on increased integration was only accepted at a Danish referendum in 1993, after the so-called Edinburgh Agreement had allowed Denmark to take a step back from the cooperation in four areas. This manifested itself in:
- Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro
- Defence cooperation
- Extension of the legal cooperation
- EU citizenship.
In 2000, a referendum was held to test if the population was prepared to abandon one of the reservations – the change from krone to euro. The answer was no by 53.2% of the votes.
The present Government wishes to remove the Danish reservations, but will not call a referendum on the issue before it is almost certain that the Danes will approve.
Denmark and the Euro
Despite the rejection of the euro, many Danish companies are prepared to trade in euros if their trade partner so wishes. Some shops also accept euros and prices may be displayed both in kroner and euros. In addition, opinion polls show that the Danes now favour replacing the krone with the euro.
The stable Danish economy is primarily attributed to Denmark’s change in 1982 from frequent devaluations to a fixed exchange rate policy. This tied the krone rate to the German mark. Now it is tied to the euro with a central rate of 7.46038 and an allowable fluctuation of 2.25% on either side. As one of its first actions, the Anders Fogh Rasmussen Government I in November 2001 confirmed its determination to plan economic policy, etc. so that the fixed exchange rate policy can continue.
LastUpdate: 2015-04-18 13:29:35