Opting out from what? Discourses on migration in the Danish referendum on the Justice and Home Affairs opt-out in 2015

On 3 December 2015, the Danish voted to continue their Justice and Home Affairs opt-out in a referendum. This happened at a time when the so-called refugee crisis was at its height in Europe. In many of the most recent national referendums on EU issues, negative attitudes toward immigration have been a significant predictor of the Eurosceptic vote. The referendum issue and the timing of the referendum suggest that also the Danish JHA opt-out referendum was a likely case for politicization of migration. This paper explores to what extent, how and by whom migration was brough into debates on the JHA opt-out and was linked to the referendum through an analysis of claims in Danish newspapers in the period July – December 2015. Despite attempts by the political majority to disconnect migration from the referendum, migration was a salient issue in the Danish referendum. Similar to other recent referendum experiences, a radical right party (The Danish People’s Party) served a prominent role in putting migration on the agenda. But also other actors, representing both pro-EU and pro-migration positions, engaged in the debates, offering alternative ways of framing the referendum and linking it to migration. The paper also shows how the refugee crisis was central in establishing the linkage in the Danish referendum.