Danish 'no' could provoke

referendum on membership

Denmark could hold a referendum on its membership of the EU if Danes reject the EU constitution in a popular vote whose date has yet to be set, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said.

A new referendum could be "one of the possibilities" if Danish voters reject the constitution, Ritzau news agency quoted Stig Moeller as saying.

"There is no plan B. We will have to consider the situation in the event of a 'no' to the constitution," he said, adding that he found it difficult to imagine that Denmark would obtain exemptions such as those it negotiated after Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.

Copenhagen was ultimately granted four exemptions -- on joint defense, common currency, judiciary cooperation and European citizenship -- and voters finally accepted the Maastricht Treaty in a second referendum in 1993.

"It would be a moral problem if Denmark were to block a treaty that interests 24 other countries," Stig Moeller said of the mooted constitution. All 25 member states must adopt the document for it to enter into force.

The minister stressed however that there was no need to speculate about a possible Danish rejection.

"We have to instead see how to rally the people around the constitution," he said.

Source: AFX News 2 Nov 2004