1982 Greenlandic European Communities membership referendum
23 February 1982 (1982-02-23)
Do you want Greenland to remain in the European Communities?
Results
Choice
Votes
%
Yes
11,180
46.98%
No
12,615
53.02%
Valid votes
23,795
98.06%
Invalid or blank votes
470
1.94%
Total votes
24,265
100.00%
Registered voters/turnout
32,391
74.91%
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 one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the EU, giving it a special relationship with the Union.
^Petersen, Nikolaj (2006) [2004] Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 6: Europæisk og globalt engagement 1973–2006, 2nd. edition (in Danish). Copenhagen: Gyldendal, pp. 372–75. ISBN978-87-0204-977-0.