[2] On 2 June 1992, Danish voters rejected the Maastricht Treaty in a referendum.

This meant that, among three other areas, Denmark would not be part of the European Monetary Union (EMU).

In March 2000, as the euro was being launched, the Danish government led by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, a supporter of the common currency, decided to hold a referendum on Danish entry into the monetary union.

[3] The largest political parties, including the opposition Liberals and Conservatives, were all in favour of entering the EMU.

However, public opinion shifted and from June 2000 until the referendum in September all polls showed 15–20 per cent undecided and an almost fifty-fifty split between EMU-supporters and EMU-sceptics.