Selective Europeanization: A Path Dependency Perspective on Danish Minority Policy

This article investigates the question: why has Danish minority policy shown such remarkable selectiveness with regard to Europeanization? This question is particularly pertinent given that Denmark is typically seen as an otherwise very efficient and keen complier, especially with EU norms and rules. The article examines the reasons for both resistance and selectiveness to Europeanization of the Danish minority policy through a “path dependency” perspective accentuating decision makers’ reluctance to deviate from existing institutional commitments, even in subsequently significantly altered political contexts at the European level. We further show how the “translation” of international norms to a domestic context has worked to reinforce the original institutional setup, dating back to the mid-1950s. The translation of European-level minority policy developed in the 1990s and 2000s works most notably through a selective and proactive interpretation of the existing Danish “one-minority policy” and interstate agreements between Denmark and Germany.