スウェーデンにおけるユーロ導入に関する国民投票 : EU加盟国民投票との比較から  [in Japanese] The Referendum on the Introduction of the Euro in Sweden : In comparison with the referendum on EU membership  [in Japanese]

On 14 September 2003, Sweden held the referendum on the introduction of the "euro", the common currency of the European Union (EU). The majority of the electorate voted "no", and the Swedish government abandoned adopting the euro, effective from 2006. Thi

On 14 September 2003, Sweden held the referendum on the introduction of the "euro", the common currency of the European Union (EU). The majority of the electorate voted "no", and the Swedish government abandoned adopting the euro, effective from 2006. This article examines the political parties' policies and opinion polls concerning the introduction of the euro to Sweden, and tries to discern the political preference of the Swedes on the EU issue, comparing current sentiments to the EU membership referendum in 1994. The first section of this article analyzes Swedish political parties' policies and opinion polls on the euro. The pro-euro camp consisted of the Moderate Party (conservative), the People's Party (liberal), the Christian Democrats, and the Social Democrats. They emphasized the economic merit of the introduction of the euro. The anti-euro camp consisted of the Center Party, the Left Party and the Greens. They argued the importance of keeping Sweden's policy-making power over its own economy. Support for Economic Monetary Union (EMU) has fluctuated since 1997, and by 2003, nearly half of the population opposed the introduction of the euro to Sweden. The second section of the article discusses the results of the referendum and the political preference of the Swedes. The voter turnout, 81.2 percent, was higher than expected, and the "yes" vote was defeated by almost 14 percentage points. That result was a far wider margin than opinion polls had predicted. Many voters espoused their party's policy except for supporters of the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats. The pro-euro voters' reasons for supporting the euro were to increase Sweden's influence in the EU and for stability in Europe and Sweden's economy. The anti-euro voters' reasons for rejecting the euro were to preserve Sweden's democracy, independence, and the decision-making power over their financial policy. The third section of this article compares both referendums on the EU in Sweden. Pro-euro and anti-euro camps did not alter their prime arguments on the EU issue in the two referendums. Support for the EU and EMU, per opinion polls, was weak in 1994 and again in 2003. The 2003 anti-euro vote included many blue-collar workers, municipal workers, poorly-educated and low-paid workers, women, and young people, just as in the 1994 vote. However, some new phenomena were observed in 2003: the increase of support for the EU in opinion polls, the rise of new political groups (pro-EU but skeptical about the euro), and the electorate's early decision-making over the vote. The fourth section of this article investigates the primary reasons for the Swedes' refusal to introduce the euro in Sweden. Some of the "no" voters' major reasons in 2003 were identical to those in the 1994 referendum: the importance of national sovereignty and a lack of democracy in the EU. These were not primary arguments in 1994, however. Additionally, anti-euro camp's economic arguments (high unemployment rates and low economic growth rates in major EU countries) convinced euro-skeptic voters. The Swedes also favored to protect existing levels of social welfare by maintaining their decision-making power over Swedish economic policies. Ultimately, the pro-euro camp's campaign simply failed to persuade the electorate of the importance to adopt the euro as Sweden's currency on 1 January 2006.