Comparison: Denmark and Czech Republic

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.…