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Time - Man of the Year
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1992-09-22
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THE WEEK, Page 22WORLDTo Be, or Not To Be E.C.
The Danes reject the European treaty, and all hell breaks loose
Like Hamlet as he strolled the ramparts of Elsinore castle,
Danish voters last week confronted a dramatic dilemma: to be, or
not to be fully a part of the new Europe. Their answer, which
provoked an instant volley of slings and arrows from the
nation's outraged Community partners, was an astounding no. By
a 50.7% majority, meaning roughly 48,000 votes out of nearly 4
million cast, Danes voted in a referendum not to ratify the
treaty of Maastricht, a landmark agreement that pledges the
Community to monetary as well as political union by the end of
the century. Coming amid a Continent-wide recession and with a
bloody conflict still raging in Yugoslavia, the stunning no vote
also undercut the unity that could allow the Eurocrats in
Brussels to play a more important role in the new world order
and the peaceful evolution of Europe after the demise of
communism.
Those anxious to scuttle the Maastricht agreement quickly
pointed out that it cannot legally take effect in any of the 12
E.C. countries until approved by all of them. "The Danes'
decision has blown a hole in the treaty below the waterline,"
argued British Conservative M.P. Sir Patrick McNair-Wilson, with
scarcely suppressed glee. Still others hailed the plebiscite as
a triumph for democracy, highlighting the abyss between voters
and their political leaders who, in Denmark's case, had
campaigned vigorously for the treaty's approval.
Seeking to minimize the damage, Denmark's 11 E.C. partners
left the door open to the country's eventual reconsideration of
the treaty. Their strategy: to salvage the Maastricht framework
while applying pressure on the Danes to change their minds,
perhaps in a second plebiscite that could be held as late as
1993 if the treaty's current ratification deadline is extended
beyond December of this year.
One danger is that Denmark's objections to the treaty will
spread to other Community nations. Danes feared that membership
in a new European union would swamp their tiny country's
identity in a federal superstate and force them to lower strict
national environmental and social standards to the E.C. level.
Until the other Community members decide more precisely how to
lay such worries to rest, important questions like approval of
Brussels' new, bulging five-year budget will effectively be put
on hold along with the applications for E.C. membership by
Sweden, Finland and Austria.