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2015 Danish European Union opt-out referendum

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Danish European Union opt-out referendum
3 December 2015
Proposed Law to change the justice opt-out to a case-by-case opt-in.[n 1][1]
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 1,375,862 46.89%
No 1,558,437 53.11%
Valid votes 2,934,299 98.13%
Invalid or blank votes 55,962 1.87%
Total votes 2,990,261 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 4,153,041 72%
Source: Statistics Denmark[2]
Election posters in Copenhagen

A referendum on one of the country's opt-outs from the European Union was held in Denmark on 3 December 2015. Specifically, the referendum was on whether to convert Denmark's current full opt-out on home and justice matters into an opt-out with case-by-case opt-in similar to those held by Ireland and the United Kingdom. Approval of the referendum was needed for Denmark to remain in Europol under the new rules. However, it was rejected by 53% of voters.

Background

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See also: Danish opt-outs from the European Union

After Danish voters rejected the Maastricht Treaty in a 1992 referendum, the Edinburgh Agreement that was reached granted four exceptions to Denmark, one of which concerning Justice and Home Affairs. The Danish people subsequently approved the Maastricht Treaty in a 1993 referendum.

Several Danish governments had considered holding a referendum on abolishing certain opt-outs. When it became clear that, under new rules, Denmark would have to leave Europol due to its full opt-out, the two main political parties agreed to hold a referendum after the 2015 general election. The second Lars Løkke Rasmussen government that was formed following the election subsequently decided on 21 August 2015 to hold a referendum on 3 December.[3]

Consequences in legislation

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List of legislation

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The following are EU-laws affected by the opt-outs, that the proponents wanted to opt into:[4]

Police and criminal law
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Civil law and commercial law
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Family law
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Proposals
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Campaign

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A "yes" vote was supported by the governing Venstre, the Social Democrats, the Conservative People's Party, The Alternative, the Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party. A "no" vote was supported by the Danish People's Party, the Liberal Alliance, the Red–Green Alliance, the People's Movement against the EU and the Young Conservatives.

Opinion polls

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Date(s) Polling agency Sample For Against Undecided Lead
1–2 December 2015 Megafon/TV2 1,927 39.4% 42.2% 18.4% 2.8%
30 November–1 December 2015 Gallup/Berlingske 1,630 37% 42% 21% 5%
25 November–1 December 2015 Wilke/Jyllandsposten 2,000 37.4% 41.1% 21.5% 3.7%
22–30 November 2015 Epinion/DR 2,778 32% 36% 31% 4%
26–29 November 2015 Megafon/TV2 1,000 35% 40% 25% 5%
25–26 November 2015 Gallup/Berlingske 1,035 34% 38% 25% 4%
20–23 November 2015 Megafon/TV2 1,031 39% 38% 23% 1%
18–23 November 2015 Norstat/Altinget 1,002 34% 41% 25% 7%
16–22 November 2015 Epinion/DR 2,373 32% 29% 34% 3%
November 2015 Voxmeter/Ritzau 1,009 34.8% 32.1% 33.1% 2.7%
November 2015 Voxmeter/Ritzau 1,010 33.0% 30.5% 36.5% 2.5%
November 2015 Voxmeter/Ritzau 1,005 26.8% 30.4% 42.7% 3.6%
26–28 October 2015 Megafon/Politiken ca. 1,000 32% 28% 40% 4%
22–26 October 2015 Norstat/Altinget 1,000 31% 37% 33% 6%
14–21 October 2015 Epinion/DR Nyheder 1,005 29% 28% 39% 1%
September 2015 Voxmeter/Ritzau Archived 2015-10-11 at the Wayback Machine 1,009 26% 37% 36% 9%
21–24 September 2015 Megafon/Politiken ca. 1,000 41% 32% 27% 9%
16–21 September 2015 Norstat/Altinget 1,001 31% 36% 33% 5%
24–26 August 2015 Megafon/Politiken ca. 1,000 41% 27% 33% 14%
21–24 August 2015 Norstat/Altinget 1,000 34% 33% 32% 1%
June 2015 Norstat/Altinget ca. 1,000 38% 31% 31% 7%
May 2015 Norstat/Altinget ca. 1,000 40% 30% 30% 10%
April 2015 Norstat/Altinget ca. 1,000 36% 29% 34% 7%
12–17 March 2015 Norstat/Altinget 1,001 38% 27% 35% 11%
3 February 2015 Norstat/Altinget ca. 1,000 39% 27% 34% 12%
12 January 2015 ukendt/Børsen ca. 1,000 43% 41% 16% 2%
January 2015 Norstat/Altinget ca. 1,000 39% 27% 34% 12%

Results

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Results by electoral district
  No
  Yes
Choice Votes %
For 1,375,862 46.89
Against 1,558,437 53.11
Invalid/blank votes 55,962 –
Total 2,990,261 100
Registered voters/turnout 4,153,041 72.00
Source: Statistics Denmark[2]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The ballot question was the name of the proposal.

References

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  1. ^ "Forslag til Lov om omdannelse af retsforbeholdet til en tilvalgsordning". retsinformation.dk. Department of Civil Affairs. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Folkeafstemning torsdag 3. december 2015: Resultater - Foreløbig opgørelse af valgresultat". dst.dk (in Danish). Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Denmark to vote on Justice and Home Affairs opt-in model on 3 December". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. 2015-08-21. Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  4. ^ "Statsministeriet - Aftale om tilvalg af retsakter på området for retlige og indre anliggender". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
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