The Danish NO to the first referendum on the Maastricht Treaty

The headline to this posting speaks volumes on Europe's plight in 2012. The following summary of an article from here, provides a good overview of what occurred:

Niels Finn Christiansen

The Danish No to Maastricht

June 2nd 1992 was a remarkable day in the history of Denmark, and perhaps in the history of post-World War II Europe. In a referendum a majority of Danes rejected the Treaty of Maastricht, which a few months earlier had so laboriously been knit together by the ec heads of government, their foreign ministers and Brussels bureaucrats. It is true that the No victory was won by a very narrow margin—50.7 per cent against, as opposed to 49.3 per cent for, a difference of approximately 40,000 votes. Nevertheless, rejection of the Treaty dealt a severe blow to the political and economic establishment in the country; and, notwithstanding Denmark’s relatively minor status within the ec, it certainly disturbed the Eurocrats. Furthermore, it seems to have played a decisive role in François Mitterrand’s decision to put the issue to the French people in a similar referendum.

A better and fuller explanation of exactly why the Danish electorate were so much wiser and more competent than their elected legislators with an uncanny nose for the workings and mechanics of their own nation can be gathered from this pdf file on the Danish initial rejection of the Maastricht Treaty which describes the shock of that rejection as follows:

Obervers were puzzled by the refusal of the Danish electorate to heed the advice of the politicians. After all, some 80 per cent of the Members of Parliament (the Folketing) had advocated a Yes to the Maastricht Treaty.

As happened yesterday I will be tweeting interesting links I find on this topic during today as I research tomorrow's posting on the disaster Maastricht is still yet proving itself to be.