Denmark is the Member of the EU. It entered in 1973 together with Great Britain and Ireland. Denmark sees the future of the EU in an intergovernmental co-operation between independent states rather than a supranational co-operation heading for a political union. It supports the increasingly close economic co-operation, but not the extensive political integration. I would mark the Danish tradition of holding a referendum about new treaty provisions, which means that public opinion affects Denmark´s EU policy more directly than in most other EU countries. The most visible example of this referendum tradition was the rejection of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 by 50.7% of the population. Consequently, four so-called "Danish opt-outs" from the Treaty had to be adopted by the Danish Government together with the EU, subsequently ratified at a referendum in May 1993 by a majority of 56.7%. And although the actual Danish Government declared that the opt-outs were contrary to Denmark´s interests, at the same time it emphasised that EU policy must have a necessary popular basis. The most remarkable is perhaps the outside position of the Economic and Monetary Union, which resulted in the rejection of a new common currency, the euro.…
