ABSTRACT
Denmark has traditionally been portrayed as an outlier when it comes to European integration (see Larsen 2011: 93). Depicted as an ‘anxious’ or ‘reluctant’ European (Miljan 1977) and a member of the ‘other’, i.e. Nordic, European Community (Turner and Nordquist 1982), this respective view has been commonplace both at the elite and at the public level within Denmark and among discussions within other states on Denmark (see Branner and Kelstrup 2000; Hansen 2002; Kelstrup, Martinsen and Wind 2012: 415–444). 1 Yet, this volume tells a slightly different and more complex story of Denmark and the European Union, and seeks to present a more nuanced appreciation of Denmark in the European Union. At the governmental level, Denmark's official political commitment to the European integration process has varied over the years (cf. Larsen 2005), but pragmatism and selective engagement have — with few exceptions — been permanent features of Denmark's approach to European integration since 1973. At the same time, playing the game of differentiated integration in a Union characterized by increasing political, economic and cultural diversity, and functional, spatial and temporal dimensions (see Dyson and Sepos 2010b), Denmark has accepted Europeanization (see Graziano and Vink 2007) as a fundamental condition for policy-making, even in policy areas affected by the Danish opt-outs (see Miles 2010a; Pedersen 2000; Larsen 2011). As Larsen argues (2005: 203), almost all areas of Danish policy have some sort of EU dimension. The country could be regarded as ‘a committed member — with opt-outs!’ (Larsen 2011: 93).
