When Culture Hampers European Integration: The Case of Denmark’s EU Cooperation

This article deals with Denmark’s skeptical attitude towards the EU cooperation. From a hermeneutical-institutional approach the aim of this article is to analyze why Denmark has been rejecting several initiatives from the EU. It illustrates how different democratic understandings hamper European integration. Based on Ronald Dworkin’s theoretical framework the article discusses two different perceptions on democracy: majoritarian democracy and constitutional democracy. It is shown when and why EU’s member states prefer to handle EU-related judicial disputes without involving supranational institutions. In addition, the article provides tentative comparisons to Britain and the Nordic countries since they show similar attitudes to supranational institutions. The article concludes that Denmark’s majoritarian democracy provides political cultures incompatible with the EU’s constitutional democracy and this can explain why Denmark is so reserved when it comes to EU cooperation.