The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

DOMESTIC INFLUENCES 97the EU’ and that it ‘should abolish the opt-outs’. 39 There remain political difficultiesin overcoming public hesitancy on the matter. These are also wellillustrated by the two practical preconditions that the government set in January2003 for removing the opt-outs: a referendum and the EU’s prior adoption ofthe 2004 Constitutional Treaty, which itself would need to be ratified by referendumin Denmark. 40 Fogh Rasmussen has also shown his attachment to amodel of Europe that resembles ‘political fusion’ by his assertions that thefuture Union should be ‘a community of nation states . . . in which the MemberStates have decided to carry out a number of task together by leaving the competenceto the EU’. 41While there is some evidence of the Danish political elite promoting astronger integrationist position, the influence of Atlanticism on public opinionis still notable. Of all the Nordic countries, Denmark has been the most assertivein showing support for the USA since September 2001. The Danishcoalition government supported President Bush and Tony Blair, the BritishPrime Minister, over the invasion of Iraq in 2003, even if this was at the cost ofalienating the Franco-German axis in continental Europe. Moreover, since April2003 the Danish Government—in spite of public opinion polls indicating lessthan 50 per cent (and declining) approval ratings for such action—has maintainedits active role in the reconstruction of Iraq and was, for example, one ofthe first countries to send civil liaison officers to the US-led Coalition ProvisionalAuthority government of Iraq. The Danish Government has been willingto assert and even prioritize its ‘Euro-Atlantic’ credentials and transatlanticties, even at the cost of undermining EU unity and perhaps the future developmentof the emerging ESDP. In addition, the ESDP is problematic preciselybecause it is linked domestically with further European political integration in away that NATO is not. This helps explain why Danish domestic actors are atease with NATO but more uncertain about where an integrationist ESDP maylead.Compound fusion?On one level, in spite of the defence opt-out, the Danes have been very active intrying to influence the ESDP—namely, through the elaboration of a EuropeanSecurity Strategy that identifies common threats to European security. 42 In addition,both the Danish political elite and the public have been strong supportersof the EU’s developing civil crisis management functions since this can be39 Danish Prime Minister’s Office, ‘Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s New Year’s speech2003’, Copenhagen, 2 Jan. 2003, URL .40 Danish Prime Minister’s Office, ‘“Danish EU policy after the Presidency” speech by Prime MinisterAnders Fogh Rasmussen at the Institute for International Studies’, Copenhagen, 15 Jan. 2003, URL.41 Danish Prime Minister’s Office (note 40).42 Council of the European Union, ‘A secure Europe in a better world: European Security Strategy’,Brussels, 12 Dec. 2003, URL .