Niels Christian Nielsen :
One has a standpoint ...The Danish Socialist People's Party's EC-policy 1959-1993

It came as a shock to the European public, when a small majority of the Danish people rejected the Maastricht Treaty at the referendum in June 1992. Prior to this referendum the Socialist People's Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF), traditionally an anti-EC party, had been the only party to propose a plan B if the Danes would reject the Maastricht Treaty. This placed SF at the centre of decision-making when Denmark's future relationship to the EC/EU had to be defined in the aftermath of the referendum. Based on SF's pre-referendum plan, the so-called National Compromise was agreed upon by the Social Democratic Party, the Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre) and SF. It eventually became the Danish position at the Edinburgh summit at which the EC agreed to accept several Danish opt-outs. At the 1993 referendum addressing the Edinburgh-agreement, SF as a consequence now recommended a "yes", and thus departed from the party's traditionally deep-rooted anti-EC policy. This article explores the historical foundation of SF's EC-policies from the birth of the party in 1959 until its (modest) embrace of European integration in 1993. The article demonstrates how SF=s EC-policies were shaped by the party=s national political strategies, by its perception and understanding of Europe and by its tactical, political priorities primarily directed towards influencing the Social Democratic Party.