Edinburgh Agreement from 1992

An EU summit in the Scotch capital in December 1992 decided the so-called Edinburgh-Agreement about Danish derogations from the Maastricht Treaty.

The drafts were drawn up by the Council legal specialist, Jean-Claude Piris, following input from Danish officials. A special informal meeting among foreign ministers finished the ​​content before the summit. Prime ministers then agreed on the headline: a decision, and the numbering of paragraps which became letters instead of numbers to make it look less legally binding.

 

The "decision" was described anset as legally binding before international law among EU member states, even though it is not applicable in the EU Court. 

The decision concluded a so-called "national compromise" between seven of then eight political parties in the Danish parliament. The decision made it possible for the government to call for a second referendum about the Treaty of Maastricht on 18. maj 1993.