ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the changes that European Community (EC)-Nordic relations have undergone as a consequence of the Danish entry into the Communities. In the Finnish case the differences in economic systems serve as a damper, and in the Danish case economic pressures can be alleviated through the collective machinery of the EC. The prospect of increased trade discrimination from the EC converted large parts of Danish opinion to the economic necessity of taking part in the schemes. The Danish government desired to continue to strengthen the Nordic relations for the future, a development that would serve the interests of the entire European Community. In the West European setting it is customary to stress the importance of concurrent political as well as economic incentives to further an integrative outcome. Norway and Denmark assumed, however, that closer West European integration was a precondition for detente and the general improvement of political relations within the West as well as between East and West.
