Danish European Communities membership referendum, 1972

A referendum on joining the European Economic Community

European Economic Community

The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...

was held in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 on 2 October 1972. The result was 63.3% in favour with a turnout of 90.1%. The law that Denmark should be member of the EEC was thus passed on 11 October 1972, and Denmark became a member on 1 January 1973.

Background

According to section 20 of the Danish constitution, any law that makes limitations to the sovereignty

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

 of the Danish state (as membership of the EEC would) must be passed in the Danish parliament with 5/6 of the parliament's members voting for the law. If a majority of members vote for the law, but not by 5/6 majority, and the government wishes to uphold the suggested law, the law can still be passed in a public referendum, as was the case in the 1972 referendum.

Results

Choice	Votes	%
For	1,958,043	63.3
Against	1,135,755	36.7
Invalid/blank votes	19,323	–
Total	3,113,121	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver