Publication

This brief provides a summary of the Danish contribution to the EU-27 Watch no. 7, 2008, particularly on national positions of the Irish voters' rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. According to the author, the Irish 'no' and the following uncertainty of the future of the Lisbon Treaty had a significant impact on the Danish opt-outs as it resulted in the postponement of the referendum plans to lift one or more of the four opt-outs. In the remaining member-states, different implications are discussed such as the slowdown of the process of enlargement, a two-speed EU and the communication gap between political elites and citizens. Despite these negative implications, the author believes that the strong consensus to continue ratification irrespectively of the Irish 'no' marks a significant difference to the ratification crisis of 2005.