Referendum to join the European Union

The European Union today counts 27 members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

For many of them, joining wasn’t just signed off by governments—it was put to a public vote. Since the early 1970s, 48 referendums have asked Europeans whether their country should enter, remain in, or leave the Union. Some votes passed by landslide, others split the population almost evenly, and in a few places the answer was “no” more than once.

The map below, made by Reddit user Jkvat, shows how people across Europe voted when faced with that question.

Here’s a look at the key referendums over the years.

Country / Territory	Year	Result	Yes %	No %
Denmark	1972	Join	63.3	36.7
Ireland	1972	Join	83.1	16.9
Norway	1972	Reject	46.5	53.5
UK	1975	Remain	67.2	32.8
Greenland	1982	Leave	47.0	53.0
Austria	1994	Join	66.6	33.4
Finland	1994	Join	56.9	43.1
Sweden	1994	Join	52.3	47.7
Norway	1994	Reject	47.8	52.2
Åland (Finland)	1994	Join	73.6	26.4
Switzerland	1997	Reject	25.9	74.1
Switzerland	2001	Reject	23.2	76.8
Malta	2003	Join	53.6	46.4
Czech Republic	2003	Join	77.3	22.7
Estonia	2003	Join	66.8	33.2
Hungary	2003	Join	83.8	16.2
Latvia	2003	Join	67.5	32.5
Lithuania	2003	Join	91.1	8.9
Poland	2003	Join	77.6	22.4
Slovakia	2003	Join	93.7	6.3
Slovenia	2003	Join	89.6	10.4
Croatia	2012	Join	66.7	33.3
San Marino	2013	Invalid	50.3	49.7
UK	2016	Leave	51.9	48.1
North Macedonia	2018	Invalid	94.2	5.8
Moldova	2024	Join	50.4	49.6

What Stands Out

Some countries jumped in without hesitation. Slovakia’s 93.7% and Lithuania’s 91.1% are among the highest “yes” votes ever cast.

Elsewhere, the mood was far more cautious. Sweden (52.3%) and Malta (53.6%) barely tipped over the halfway mark. Finland’s margin was also narrow.

Then there are the repeated rejections. Norway voted against joining twice, and Switzerland turned down membership more than once as well. Greenland, though part of Denmark, went the other direction and chose to leave in 1982—still the only territory ever to do so.

And of course, the UK’s story is unique: a solid “yes” in 1975, followed by the Brexit vote in 2016 that pulled the country out.

These referendums show that decisions about the EU have always gone beyond economics. They’ve tapped into questions of national identity, independence, and how people picture their future in Europe.