# Denmark accepts Maastricht with opt-outs (18 May 1993)

URL: https://allhistories.com/denmark/timeline/1993-denmark-accepts-maastricht-with-opt-outs
Themes: Key Events

With the four opt-outs negotiated at the Edinburgh summit, the Maastricht Treaty was put to a second referendum on 18 May 1993. This time 56.7 per cent voted yes, allowing the treaty to enter into force across the European Community in November 1993. On the evening of the vote, clashes broke out between opponents of the EU and police in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen. Police fired live rounds at rioters for the first time since the Second World War, wounding eleven people. The opt-outs on the euro, defence, justice and citizenship defined Denmark's special position in the European Union, and several later referendums failed to remove them.

## Why it matters
The 1993 vote kept Denmark in the core of the EU while fixing the opt-outs that shaped its membership for decades.

Ruler at the Time: [Margrethe II](https://allhistories.com/denmark/rulers/margrethe-ii)

Prime Minister: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Social Democrats)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 1993 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Danish_Maastricht_Treaty_referendum)
- [Wikipedia — Danish opt-outs from the European Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_opt-outs_from_the_European_Union)
- [Wikipedia — Edinburgh Agreement (1992)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Agreement_(1992))
- [Wikipedia — Nørrebro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nørrebro)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Denmark Maastricht referendum 1993](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Denmark+Maastricht+referendum+1993)