THE DANISH OPT-OUTS

The special status was approved by the Danish population in a referendum in 1993. The opt-outs concern the following areas:

• Economic and Monetary Union
  Denmark will not participate in the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union, i.e. the introduction of the single currency, the euro.

• Union citizenship
  In 1992 Denmark declared that 'union citizenship is a supplement to national citizenship and not a replacement'. In 1997, amendments made to the Maastricht Treaty and embodied in the Amsterdam Treaty stated that union citizenship will not replace national citizenship, but only supplement it. The Amsterdam Treaty thereby reflected the wording of the Danish opt-out of 1992.

• Common defence
  Denmark will not participate in the preparation and implementation of actions with defence implications.

• Justice and home affairs
  Denmark will only participate in EU judicial cooperation at an intergovernmental level. This means that Denmark is precluded from taking part in certain areas of EU judicial cooperation.

The opt-outs and the Presidency

The significance of the opt-outs for the Danish Presidency varies according to area:

Opt-out: Defence
The defence opt-out means that Denmark must renounce its right to exercise the Presidency in fora where defence issues are primarily under discussion. Nor will Denmark be involved in setting the agenda in this area of EU cooperation.

Opt-out: Justice and home affairs
Denmark will assume the role of Presidency on a normal basis. Neither the Edinburgh agreement nor the Protocol on Denmark’s Position contain special provisions governing Denmark’s ability to exercise its EU Presidency in areas relating to the opt-out on justice and home affairs.

As there are no special provisions in the opt-out on justice and home affairs concerning how the Presidency should be exercised, the normal rules will apply.

Opt-out: The euro
Denmark holds the Presidency of the ECOFIN Council and collaborates closely with the Greek Presidency of the euro group.

As far as external relations in the euro/ECOFIN area are concerned, Denmark and Greece will continue to follow standard practice with regard to the division of responsibilities between ECOFIN and the euro group Presidencies.

Protocol no. 5 on Denmark’s position, The Treaty on the European Union