2000 Danish euro referendum

28 September 2000
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 1,620,353 46.79% No 1,842,814 53.21% Valid votes 3,463,167 98.85% Invalid or blank votes 40,358 1.15% Total votes 3,503,525 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 3,999,325 87.6%
Results by nomination district and constituency Yes:     50–55%     55–60%     60–65%     65–70% No:     50–55%     55–60%     60–65%

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v t e

A referendum on joining theEurozone was held inDenmark on 28 September 2000.^[1] It was rejected by 53.2% of voters with a turnout of 87.6%.^[2]

On 2 June 1992, Danish voters rejected theMaastricht Treaty in areferendum. On 18 May 1993, Denmark ratified an amended treaty following theEdinburgh Agreement. This meant that, among three other areas, Denmark would not be part of theEuropean Monetary Union (EMU). In March 2000, as theeuro was being launched, the Danish government led byPoul Nyrup Rasmussen, a supporter of the common currency, decided to hold a referendum on Danish entry into the monetary union.^[2] In May 2000 the government tabled the bill. According to the bill, if the outcome of the referendum was in favour of the adoption of the euro, Denmark would be able to join the euro area from 1 January 2002 with the euro as "book money". Euro banknotes and coins would be introduced as from 1 January 2004, after which krone banknotes and coins would be withdrawn.^[3]

The largest political parties, including the oppositionLiberals andConservatives, were all in favour of entering the EMU. So were the industrial and banking sectors and the majority of labour unions. Only one national paper (Ekstra Bladet) came out against EMU.^[4] Five political parties did oppose EMU: two right-wing parties (theDanish People’s Party and theProgress Party), two left-wing parties (TheSocialist People's Party andThe Red-Green Alliance) and the centre-rightChristian People’s Party. However, these parties were all relatively small and represented only 39 of 179 seats in Parliament at the time).^[4]

When the referendum was called, support for the "Yes" side was just below 50% while the "No" side was just below 40% according to opinion polls. However, public opinion shifted and from June 2000 until the referendum in September all polls showed 15–20 per cent undecided and an almost fifty-fifty split between EMU-supporters and EMU-sceptics.^[5]

Several events eroded support for the "Yes" side:^[6]

• The release of the Danish Economic Council's semi-annual report in May which concluded "the economic benefits to be reaped from EMU membership were uncertain and small and that the EMU could best be described as a political project." This report had a major influence on the debate and undermined the "Yes" campaign's narrative that EMU was vital for the economy.
• EU sanctioning ofAustria following theformation of a government coalition between the ConservativeWolfgang Schüssel and theFreedom Party ofJörg Haider in Austria was unpopular in Denmark and undermined trust in both the EU and the Prime Minister who had agreed to the sanctions. (This was widely seen as an unwarranted intervention in the democratic process of a small member state).
• The euro had dropped 25% in value against the US dollar since its introduction in 1999, creating concern about its viability.
• The Prime Minister had tried to argue Denmark could unilaterally leave the euro if it chose, but was contradicted by theEuropean Commission, again undermining his credibility.
• The governor of the Danish Central Bank, Bodil Nyboe-Andersen, argued on television that contrary to "Yes" side arguments, the Danish representative on the ECB Council would not act as a "Danish" representative.
• Fears arose about the ultimate effect of EMU on the Danish welfare state and pensions, which the PM could not assuage.
• At least some of the vote was simply against the government, which had been in power for eight years by that point and would be swept out of powerthe following autumn in 2001.

• Denmark and the euro

• Referendums in Denmark
• 2000 referendums
• 2000 in Denmark
• 2000s in Danish politics
• 1990s in Danish politics
• Euro by country
• 2000 in international relations
• 2000 in the European Union
• Denmark and the European Union
• Referendums related to the European Union
• September 2000 in Denmark

• Articles with Danish-language sources (da)
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