The Nordic Countries: The Causes and Consequences of Variable Geometry

The Nordic states all participate in European integration, but to different degrees and through somewhat different institutional arrangements. Finland has been a full European Union (EU) member since 1995, and it is the only one of the four states discussed in this chapter that has adopted the EU’s single currency. Sweden has been a full EU member since 1995, but it decided unilaterally not to adopt the Euro. Denmark, an EU member since 1973, has a formal opt-out from European Monetary Union (EMU) and three other policy areas (citizenship, civil law and defence). Norway is perhaps best describers as a ‘quasi-member’ of the EU: despite two referendum decisions against joining the EU, the country is closely involved in most aspects of EU policy through the European Economic Area (EEA) and Schengen. The fifth Nordic country, Iceland (which is not covered in the present chapter), applied for full EU membership in 2009 (and is in the EEA and Schengen). The four ‘mainland’ states have all held referendums on European integration, and all but Finland have seen their governments defeated by popular vote. This chapter explores the political processes and patterns of Euroscepticism that have produced these different forms of participation in European integration, and some of its practical consequences.