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standing, export one-third of its gross national product. In the latter 1960s nearly half of Danish exports went to the UK-led European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which Denmark joined in 1960; 25% went to the European Economic Community (EEC).
Although comfortable and at home with the United Kingdom and the other Scandinavian countries in EFTA; economic necessity dictated that Denmark seek a close relationship with the EEC. Thus, in 1961 Denmark followed the UK example in applying for Common Market membership. The breakdown of negotiations on the UK application in 1963 was a hard blow to Denmark, for the Danes had foreseen the acceptance of the United Kingdom as leading to the entry of Denmark. At one juncture, former Prime Minister Krag, reflecting Danish anxiety, suggested that the Scandinavian countries not await another UK try, but make a joint application by themselves, a move vetoed by Norway and Sweden. The reapplication by the United Kingdom in 1967 was swiftly followed by Denmark's reapplication. In the second round it was clearly understood in Copenhagen that Danish entry into the EEC was no longer contingent on British entry, and that Denmark might choose to proceed on its own. By mid-1971 the Danish bid to enter the EEC, now called the European Communities, had not only the strong backing of the Liberal-Conservative governing coalition, but of the large majority of the Social Democrats as well. Only the far left, including the Social Democrats' SFP ally, remained clearly opposed - an opposition apparently reflecting the wishes of slightly more than one-third of the population. It was a Social Democratic government that ultimately led Denmark into the EC on 1 January 1973, following the national referendum of October 1972, in which 63.5% of those participating (almost 90% of the electorate) voted "yes" and 36.5% voted "no."
Denmark has been an active member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), formerly OEEC, since its inception and belongs to other regional economic organizations and international trade conventions as the European Monetary Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Growing Danish enthusiasm for integration in the economic area has not extended to the political sphere. This reserve has stemmed in large measure from the prospect that a West European Union would be dominated by West Germany, still an object of Danish distrust, and by Gaullist France, with its fondness for a continentalist approach separate from US influence. The reserve stems also from a disinclination to emerge from the insular Nordic regionalism, where for two decades the ethnically similar Nordic countries coordinated their social policies with marked success, unfettered by any complicating outside commitments.
The Nordic Council was founded in 1952 to bring together annually the government ministers and legislators of Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark with its Faroese self-governing dependency. The Prime Ministers and foreign ministers of the member countries usually meet twice a year, and experts in various fields are in frequent contact throughout the year. But the Council itself has no power other than to recommend that member countries act pursuant to its approved resolutions. Nevertheless, the Council has achieved considerable progress in non-political matters, such as the establishment of a common labor market, the elimination of passports for travel within the Nordic area, passage of joint or reciprocal laws relating to social welfare, taxation and the regulations of private business, and cooperation in the communications and transport fields. By provision of the Helsinki Agreement of 1959, the Nordic countries "ought" to hold consultations before they take a stand on power-political questions in international organizations. The reasoning was that by reaching prior agreement in their attitudes on major questions in world politics which do not affect their own security interests, the Nordic states would be able to win far greater understanding for their views as a united group than they would be able to do individually. Such pre-consultation has become customary, although Copenhagen was embarrassed in 1965 when it introduced without prior consultation a resolution in the UN General Assembly concerning possible sanctions against South Africa. Nevertheless, a proposal made at a Nordic Council session in 1965 to make pre-consultation mandatory was rejected as superfluous.
With EC accession in January 1973, Denmark will inevitably be drawn into the West European orbit with as yet indeterminate effect on Nordic cooperation. The common Nordic labor market, for example, must now make allowances for Danish commitments and responsibilities within the EC labor market. As Denmark's economic inevitably integrates more closely with that of West Germany, old political antagonisms toward its large southern neighbor may more rapidly be put to rest.
The Danes never quite shared the Germanophile outlook of their Scandinavian cousins prior to World War I. As the only Nordic nation having a common border with the Teutonic heartland, Denmark was the most vulnerable to political interference and territorial
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