1982 Greenlandic European Communities membership referendum

The 1982 Greenlandic European Communities membership referendum was a referendum that took place on 23 February 1982, over whether Greenland should continue to be a member of the European Communities (EC).

Greenland had joined the EC in 1973 when Denmark joined, even though a majority of 70% of the Greenlandic votes in the Danish EC referendum held in 1972 had been against membership. In the spring of 1981, after Greenlandic home rule had been established in 1979 and the eurosceptic party Siumut won the 1979 election, the Parliament of Greenland agreed to hold a referendum on its continued membership.[1] The result of the referendum was a majority in favour of leaving the EC, and this was enacted by the Greenland Treaty, which allowed the EC to keep its fishing rights.[2] Greenland continues to be considered an Overseas Countries and Territory of the EU, giving it a special relationship with the Union.

Results

Choice	Votes	%
No	12,615	53.02
Yes	11,180	46.98
Total votes	23,795	100.00
Source: Petersen, Folketingets EU-Oplysning, "Svar på spm. om Nicetraktaten, folkeafstemning, til udenrigsministeren", 27 July 2001

See also

• Greenland–European Union relations
• Greenland (European Parliament constituency)
• Withdrawal of Greenland from the European Communities

References

1. Petersen, Nikolaj (2006) [2004] Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 6: Europæisk og globalt engagement 1973–2006, 2nd. edition (in Danish). Copenhagen: Gyldendal, pp. 372–75. ISBN 978-87-0204-977-0.
2. "The Greenland Treaty of 1985". Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2016-06-25.