| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Danish support for the new EU constitutional treaty is waning |
| 2005-06-04 |
| Support for the new EU treaty is waning in Denmark after Dutch and French voters rejected the treaty earlier this week. 40 percent of voters are against the treaty, compared with 31 percent who plan to say yes note the description 'treaty' - it tells you that some danes value their identity after all Denmark has turned against the new European Union constitutional treaty. Three opinion polls reveal Danish attitudes toward the new EU treaty shifting dramatically since Dutch and French voters rejected the treaty earlier this week. According to a survey conducted by Greens for business daily Børsen, 39.5 percent of Danes would vote no for the treaty, compared with 30.8 percent who would vote yes. Undecided voters still make up 29.7 percent of the population. Just last month, Greens found that naysayers represented only 26 percent of the voters, while 34.3 percent of the population expected to vote yes on the treaty. The Danish People's Party, which opposes the treaty and has called upon the government to call off Denmark's referendum on 27 September, found encouragement in the new figures. Morten Messerschmidt, the party's spokesman on EU affairs, was pleased with the change in public opinion. 'You can't count your chickens before they are hatched, but this is great news. I think the government should follow the Danish People's Party proposal about not holding a referendum. It seems pointless, since there isn't anything to vote on, now that France and Holland have said no,' said Messerschmidt. Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller tried to downplay the importance of the new results. 'This change isn't surprising considering the dramatic developments in France and the Netherlands. But opinion polls go up and down. If you get shocked by such things, you shouldn't be in this business. It cannot be true that when opinion polls go up, you hold referendums, and when they go down, you cancel them,' said Møller. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #4 Whilst the media can not say this, the no votes are substantially against immigration which has caused many problems in previously cohesive societies. A good friend is Danish and many are very concerned about this issue and the EU and its policies (and its restrictions on what can be done about it) are being blamed. The people are saying we don't want to go any further down this road. Scandinavian blogs are full of this issue. The EU otherwise is still popular. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-06-04 20:28 |
| #3 Assuming the margin of error is @plus or minus 4 %pts,the Yes vote has remained roughly w/in margin of error,while Nos have picked up about 1/4 of previously undecideds. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2005-06-04 18:38 |
| #2 "Something smells rotten in the Kingdom of Denmark" |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-06-04 11:53 |
| #1 baaaa |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-04 11:39 |