Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is said by the leaders of the Social Democratic, Socialist People’s and Social Liberal parties to have rejected their call for a quick referendum on Denmark’s EU opt-outs on March 23.

Immediately after Løkke Rasmussen announced former Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard’s candidacy as Denmark’s new EU Commissioner yesterday, the leaders of the three opposition parties held a meeting at which they agreed to call for a quick referendum on two of Denmark’s EU opt-outs.

The three leaders - Villy Søvndal (SocPeo), Margrethe Vestager (SocLib) and Helle Throning Schmidt (SocDem) met the prime minister today during pan partisan sounding-out talks called by Løkke Rasmussen to discuss Denmark’s position after the EU’s Lisbon Treaty comes into force, when Denmark will remain outside central elements of EU cooperation as a result of its opt-outs.

The opt-outs in the fields of Justice, Defence and the 3rd stage of European Monetary Union were agreed at the Edinburgh Conference in 1992 following Denmark’s rejection in a referendum of the Maastricht Treaty. The treaty was subsequently passed at referendum after the government won its opt-outs – but with the possibility of opting-in at a later stage.