Referendum in France in 1972 to expand the European Economic Community

Situation of France in the EEC Other EEC member states Candidate countries within the framework of the EEC's northward expansion



On April 23, 1972 , a referendum was held in France in 1972 to expand the European Economic Community . Voters were invited to give their opinion on the planned accession of the United Kingdom , Ireland , Denmark and Norway to the European Economic Community (the so-called northern enlargement ). 68.3 percent of those who voted approved the EEC expansion. The turnout was 60.2 percent.

background

President Georges Pompidou (1969)

Since the formal establishment of the EEC in 1957, it has proven to be a successful model for economic policy and at the same time an anchor of stability in Europe. Other states then also aim to join the EEC. Two applications for membership by the United Kingdom in 1961 and 1967 were blocked by French President Charles de Gaulle with a veto. Formally, this was justified with incompatibilities in economic policy. The main reason, however, lay in the fact that the UK's EEC membership contradicted de Gaulle's conception of a de facto French-led “core Europe” (a Europe européenne as opposed to an Anglo-American dominated Europe atlantique ). After de Gaulle's resignation in 1969, Georges Pompidou was his successor. Pompidou was no longer fundamentally opposed to the UK's accession to the EEC. The EEC's accession negotiations with the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and Ireland have resumed. At a press conference on March 16, 1972, President Pompidou announced the holding of a referendum in which French voters would decide whether to approve the EEC enlargement.

Campaign before voting

Election recommendations of the parties

Political party	Voting recommendation
Parti communiste	No
Parti socialist	abstention
Parti radical	Yes
Center democrate	Yes
Union des Démocrates pour la République	Yes

Of the major parties, the French Communist Party under Georges Marchais recommended a “no” from the opposition parties , the socialists under François Mitterrand an abstention, the centrists under Jean Lecanuet and the left-liberal Parti radical under Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber a “yes”. The ruling Gaullists ( Union des Démocrates pour la République and independent republicans) recommend a “yes” vote. Opinion polls before the referendum found that around two-thirds of those questioned saw the referendum as a decision on an important issue, but that a narrow majority saw the referendum as a primarily domestic issue, with President Pompidou looking to strengthen his political position went. The opponents of the EEC expansion argued above all that an expansion of the EEC would primarily serve the interests of the large business enterprises and would ultimately lead to a deterioration in the living conditions of the common population. In addition, the admission of the United Kingdom, with its special relationship with the United States , made the EEC increasingly dependent on the USA. The polls showed, however, that even Communist Party voters disagreed with the majority of these analyzes. Furthermore, 67% of the respondents thought that the common market was basically a good thing for France, while only 8% thought the opposite.

Over time, the opinion polls showed that the camp of “no” supporters steadily increased the closer the voting date came. Whereas in mid-March 1972 the “no” proponents were still around 10%, a few days before the date it was almost 30%.

The question asked during the referendum, which had to be answered with Oui / Non (Yes / No), was:

«Approuvez-vous, dans les perspectives nouvelles qui s'ouvrent à l'Europe, le projet de loi soumis au peuple français par le président de la République, et authorisant la ratification du traité relatif à l'adhésion de la Grande-Bretagne, du Denmark, de l'Irlande et de la Norvège aux Communautés européennes? »

"Against the background of the new perspectives that are opening up for Europe, do you agree to the bill that the President of the Republic has presented to the French people, which envisages the accession of Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland and Norway to the European Communities?"

- Question of the referendum of April 23, 1972 : Conseil constitutionnel

In a survey on April 10, 1972, more than 50% of those questioned stated that they either found the question not clear (“La question ne paraît pas claire”) or even incomprehensible (“Ne connaît pas le texte”).

Results

A clear majority of those who voted approved the planned EU expansion. Of 17,964,607 voters (turnout 60.2%), 10,847,554 voted with "Yes" (68.3%) and 5,030,934 (31.7%) with "No", 2,086,119 (7.0%) Votes were invalid or blank ballot papers. The only one of 96 departments in metropolitan France , in which a slight majority of negative votes (50.6%) of was the Paris region Territory Seine-Saint-Denis . The department with the highest percentage of yes-votes (84.6%) was Bas-Rhin (Niederrhein, i.e. Lower Alsace ). The voters in the French overseas holdings of the time ( Comoros , Réunion , French Guiana , the French Afar and Issa territories , Wallis and Futuna , French Polynesia , New Caledonia , Saint-Pierre and Miquelon , Martinique , Guadeloupe ) also voted with a large majority with "yes".

Majorities based on departments and overseas possessions

voter turnout

Results by departments and in the French overseas holdings

Department	electoral legitimate	electoral participation	Percent yes	Percent no	Percent Invalid
Ain	207.202	52.2	74.2	25.8	6.1
Aisne	298.200	67.6	59.5	40.5	7.4
Allier	240.913	60.4	57.7	42.3	7.4
Hautes-Alpes	60,891	58.6	67.3	32.7	7.9
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence	67,662	61.1	63.4	36.6	10.2
Alpes-Maritimes	439.909	58.2	66.5	33.5	6.6
Ardèche	168.278	60.5	70.3	29.7	7.6
Ardennes	165.269	60.9	66.4	33.6	6.8
Ariège	95,522	53.0	62.8	37.2	7.8
Aube	157.409	62.4	67.2	32.8	7.4
Aude	176.464	52.4	59.3	40.7	8.9
Aveyron	188.502	66.2	75.5	24.5	10.9
Bouches-du-Rhône	788.589	49.9	59.2	40.8	5.7
Calvados	304,340	62.0	72.2	27.8	6.6
Cantal	111,346	61.5	76.4	23.6	5.6
Charente	205.831	61.1	65.5	34.5	7.9
Charente-Maritime	301,449	56.1	69.4	30.6	6.9
Cher	187.242	62.3	61.8	38.2	6.9
Corrèze	163.220	67.2	59.0	41.0	8.2
Corsica	184.234	42.7	79.2	20.8	1.8
Côte-d'Or	241.260	55.2	72.1	27.9	5.0
Côtes-du-Nord	335601	65.0	65.2	34.8	6.5
Creuse	109,403	55.6	59.3	40.7	6.8
Dordogne	255.729	67.7	61.1	38.9	9.2
Doubs	233.975	59.7	74.5	25.5	7.4
Drôme	206,744	56.5	68.7	31.3	8.5
Essonne	395,517	61.6	62.3	37.7	7.3
Your	229,589	64.3	66.2	33.8	7.4
Eure-et-Loir	185,525	66.1	69.0	31.0	8.0
Finistère	505.931	60.0	75.8	24.2	5.1
Gard	293,645	56.1	57.2	42.8	7.0
Haute-Garonne	406.113	57.4	67.9	32.1	8.7
Gers	115,662	57.8	65.4	34.6	9.6
Gironde	598,433	57.0	70.0	30.0	7.1
Hauts-de-Seine	770.901	59.2	65.5	34.5	6.6
Herault	348,690	51.2	59.6	40.4	7.1
Ille-et-Vilaine	401.093	62.1	78.6	21.4	6.3
Indre	162,288	64.3	60.8	39.2	8.0
Indre-et-Loire	258,566	60.1	68.2	31.8	7.8
Isère	429.833	52.3	65.8	34.2	6.8
law	145.219	60.3	70.7	29.3	8.0
Country	184,917	66.4	68.7	31.3	8.8
Loir-et-Cher	168,801	65.0	65.7	34.3	8.1
Loire	418,362	55.1	71.1	28.9	6.4
Haute Loire	137,360	61.4	77.6	22.4	7.6
Loire-Atlantique	517.586	60.3	77.0	23.0	6.5
Loiret	259.283	64.5	69.9	30.1	8.0
Lot	102.068	69.3	68.9	31.1	10.3
Lot-et-Garonne	180.912	64.4	62.2	37.8	9.2
Lozère	52,602	63.8	80.3	19.7	7.0
Maine-et-Loire	344,587	63.2	80.1	19.9	6.8
Some	272.228	61.7	81.0	19.0	6.0
Haute-Marne	121,747	64.2	69.4	30.6	8.1
Marne	274.112	60.0	68.8	31.2	6.6
Mayenne	156.377	68.0	80.8	19.2	7.9
Meurthe-et-Moselle	383.311	63.2	67.6	32.4	6.6
Meuse	122,360	68.3	71.0	29.0	7.5
Morbihan	343.397	64.0	75.8	24.2	5.7
Moselle	511.760	64.8	75.1	24.9	6.1
Nièvre	157.162	56.4	63.3	36.7	8.6
North	1,350,808	67.2	61.9	38.1	7.9
Oise	304.160	66.8	61.5	38.5	7.3
Orne	172.195	63.2	75.4	24.6	7.0
Paris	1,284,554	56.8	73.6	26.4	6.6
Pas-de-Calais	786.012	67.8	57.8	42.2	8.6
Puy-de-Dôme	326.280	56.2	65.6	34.4	7.0
Hautes-Pyrénées	142,609	57.5	65.2	34.8	7.6
Pyrénées-Atlantiques	321.978	61.1	76.9	23.1	7.7
Pyrénées-Orientales	176,290	52.5	57.8	42.2	7.4
Bas-Rhin	477.964	58.7	84.6	15.4	5.1
Haut-Rhin	350.298	62.0	82.5	17.5	6.1
Rhône	692,597	53.7	71.0	29.0	6.1
Haute-Saône	134,370	63.6	67.8	32.2	9.1
Saône-et-Loire	336,585	55.1	67.5	32.5	7.1
Sarthe	278.377	62.3	65.6	34.4	6.9
Savoie	169.966	55.5	70.7	29.3	7.1
Haute-Savoie	220,889	56.5	76.5	23.5	6.7
Seine-et-Marne	365.013	63.0	65.7	34.3	7.3
Seine-Maritime	646.723	62.0	62.2	37.8	6.6
Seine-Saint-Denis	624.961	59.0	49.4	50.6	5.7
Deux-Sèvres	204.088	61.3	78.8	21.2	8.2
Somme	309,867	71.2	57.8	42.2	8.1
Camouflage	212,888	68.0	69.8	30.2	11.2
Tarn-et-Garonne	114,426	63.7	69.0	31.0	10.2
Territoire de Belfort	65,456	59.4	68.4	31.6	8.0
Val d'Oise	384,593	61.2	60.2	39.8	6.7
Val-de-Marne	594.455	60.4	58.5	41.5	6.5
Var	345,471	52.9	64.3	35.7	6.6
Vaucluse	210.177	59.5	62.1	37.9	9.7
Vendée	268,611	69.0	83.3	16.7	7.5
Vienne	209,706	63.9	69.3	30.7	8.0
Haute-Vienne	230,561	60.4	57.6	42.4	8.8
Vosges	235,520	65.5	72.6	27.4	8.2
Yonne	179,375	63.1	67.4	32.6	7.4
Yvelines	492.126	61.0	69.8	30.2	6.9
French Polynesia	45,064	44.0	75.7	24.3	2.0
Comoros	127.960	91.2	99.1	0.9	1.2
Guadeloupe	141,930	22.8	95.3	4.7	1.4
French Guyana	18,224	26.9	93.9	6.1	2.2
Martinique	161,789	37.6	93.6	6.4	4.2
New Caledonia and New Hebrides	47,540	48.9	91.1	8.9	2.2
Reunion	156.845	51.4	88.8	11.2	1.7
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon	3,420	66.7	94.8	5.2	2.6
French Afar and Issa Territories	42,842	90.5	98.7	1.3	0.5
Wallis and Futuna	3,780	82.0	88.0	12.0	0.6
total	29.820.464	60.2	68.3	31.7	7.0
↑ a b c The percentages for yes and no votes refer to the valid votes. The invalid votes include the votes that are invalid for formal reasons, as well as the empty ballot papers.

After the referendum

After the approval of the French voters, the way to the expansion of the European Economic Community was free. The United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland joined the EEC on January 1, 1973. However, in a referendum on September 24th and 25th, 1972, the Norwegians by a majority rejected their country's planned entry into the EEC, so that this did not take place.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 1967: De Gaulle says 'non' to Britain - again. BBC News, November 27, 1967, accessed October 15, 2016 . 
2. ^ Marion Dönhoff : Warning of de Gaulle. Die Zeit, February 15, 1963, accessed October 15, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Pierre Magnan: Brexit: quand de Gaulle disait non à l'Angleterre dans l'Europe. franceinfo.fr, June 23, 2016, accessed October 15, 2016 (French). 
4. ^ De Gaulle's first veto. CVCE ( University of Luxembourg ), accessed October 15, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Jean-Paul Cointet, Bernard Lachaise, Sabrina Tricaud: Georges Pompidou et les élections (1962-1974). Chapter 2: Le référendum de 1972. Peter Lang Éditions scientifiques internationales, Brussels, 2008. ISBN 978-90-5201-336-7 . P. 233 ff
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} LE REFERENDUM SUR L'EUROPE DU 23 AVRIL 1972. (PDF) Ifop Collectors Nr 3, April 2012, accessed on October 15, 2016 (French). 
7. ↑ Le référendum du 23 avril 1972. larousse.fr, accessed on October 15, 2016 (French). 
8. ↑ Élargissement des Communautés européennes (1972). france-politique.fr, accessed on October 15, 2016 (French). 
9. ↑ ^{a b} CONSEIL CONSTITUTIONNEL: PROCLAMATION des résultats du référendum du 23 avril 1972 concernant le projet de loi authorisant la ratification du traité relatif à l'adhésion à la Communauté économique européenne et à la Communauté européenne de l'énergie de atomique du Royaume, de l'Irlande, du Royaume de Norvège et du Royaume-Uni de Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord, signed in Bruxelles on January 22, 1972. In: Journal officiel de la Republique Française. April 29, 1972, pp. 4460-4462 , accessed October 14, 2016 (French).