Opt-outs in the European Union
In general, the law of the European Union is valid in all of the twenty-seven European Union member states. However, occasionally member states negotiate certain opt-outs from legislation or treaties of the European Union, meaning they do not have to participate in certain policy areas. Currently, three states have such opt-outs: Denmark, Ireland and Poland. The United Kingdom had four opt-outs before leaving the Union.
This is distinct from the enhanced cooperation, a measure introduced in the Treaty of Amsterdam, whereby a minimum of nine member states are allowed to co-operate within the structure of the European Union without involving other member states, after the European Commission and a qualified majority have approved the measure. It is further distinct from the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification, whose lifting is conditional on the relevant member states meeting certain benchmarks, and temporary derogations from certain areas of cooperation until the relevant member states satisfy the entry conditions.
Summary table
Current opt-outs
As of 2024, three states have formal opt-outs from a total of four policy areas.Economic and Monetary Union stage III (Eurozone) – Denmark
All member states other than Denmark have either adopted the euro or are legally bound to do so. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 included protocols on the UK and Denmark giving them opt-outs with the right to decide if and when they would join the euro. Denmark subsequently notified the Council of the European Communities of their decision to opt-out of the euro, and this was included as part of the 1992 Edinburgh Agreement, a Decision of Council, reached following the Maastricht Treaty's initial rejection in a 1992 Danish referendum. The purpose of the agreement was to assist in its approval in a second referendum, which it did. The Danish decision to opt-out was subsequently formalized in an amended protocol as part of the Lisbon Treaty.In 2000, the Danish electorate voted against joining the euro in a referendum by a margin of 53.2% to 46.8% on a turnout of 87.6%.
While the remaining states are all obliged to adopt the euro eventually by the terms of their accession treaties, since membership in the Exchange Rate Mechanism is a prerequisite for euro adoption, and joining ERM is voluntary, these states can ultimately control the timing of their adoption of the euro by deliberately not satisfying the ERM requirement.
Area of freedom, security and justice
Denmark and Ireland have opt-outs from the area of freedom, security and justice in general, while Denmark and Ireland have opt-outs from the Schengen Agreement and Poland has an opt-out from the applicability of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.The United Kingdom also had opt-outs from all of these policy areas prior to its withdrawal from the European Union in 2020.
General – Denmark & Ireland
Ireland has a flexible opt-out from legislation adopted in the area of freedom, security and justice, which includes all matters previously part of the pre-Amsterdam Justice and Home Affairs pillar. This allows it to opt-in or out of legislation and legislative initiatives on a case-by-case basis, which it usually does, except on matters related to the Schengen acquis. The opt-out from the JHA policy area was originally obtained by Ireland and the United Kingdom in a protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997, and was retained by both in the Treaty of Lisbon. A review published by the Irish government in 2025 concluded that "Ireland should continue to be covered by the terms of the Protocol" but that it should "take part in AFSJ measures to the maximum extent possible".In contrast, Denmark has a more rigid opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice. While the Edinburgh Agreement of 1992 stipulated that "Denmark will participate fully in cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs", the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997 included a protocol which exempted it, as a matter of EU law, from participating in these policy areas, which are instead conducted on an intergovernmental basis with Denmark. A number of parallel intergovernmental agreements have been concluded between the EU and Denmark to extend to it EU Regulations adopted under the area of freedom, security and justice, which Denmark can't participate in directly due to its opt-out. In the negotiations of the Lisbon Treaty, Denmark obtained an amendment to the protocol to give it the option to convert its opt-out from the Area of freedom, security and justice into a flexible opt-in modelled on the Irish and British opt-outs. In a referendum on 3 December 2015, 53.1% rejected exercising this option.
Schengen Agreement – Denmark & Ireland
The Schengen Agreement abolished border controls between European Community member states which acceded to it. When the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997 incorporated it into the EU treaties, Ireland and the United Kingdom received opt-outs from implementing the Schengen acquis as they were the only EU member states that had not signed the agreement. However, the protocol on the Schengen acquis specified that they could request to opt-in to participating in Schengen measures on a case-by-case basis if they desired, subject to unanimous approval of the other participating states.The protocol on the Schengen acquis and protocol on Denmark of the Treaty of Amsterdam stipulate that Denmark, which had signed an accession protocol the Schengen Agreement, would continue to be bound by the provisions and would have the option to participate in future developments of the Schengen acquis, but would do so on an intergovernmental basis rather than under EU law for the provisions that fell under the Justice and Home Affairs pillar, from which Denmark obtained an opt-out. When a measure is adopted which builds upon the Schengen acquis, Denmark has six months to decide whether to implement it. If Denmark decides to implement the measure, it takes the force of an international agreement between Denmark and the Schengen states. However, the protocol stipulates that if Denmark chooses not to implement future developments of the Schengen acquis, the EU and its member states "will consider appropriate measures to be taken". A failure by Denmark to implement a Schengen measure could result in it being excluded from the Schengen Area. The Protocol on Denmark's general opt-out from the AFSJ stipulates that if Denmark exercises its option to convert its opt-out into a flexible opt-in, then it will be become bound by the Schengen acquis under EU law rather than on an intergovernmental basis.
Ireland submitted a request to participate in the Schengen acquis in 2002, which was approved by the Council of the European Union. A Council decision in 2020 approved the implementation of the provisions on data protection and Schengen Information System to Ireland.
Ireland joined the UK in adopting this opt-out to keep their border with Northern Ireland open via the Common Travel Area. Prior to the renewal of the CTA in 2011, when the British government was proposing that passports be required for Irish citizens to enter the UK, there were calls for Ireland to join the Schengen Area. However, in response to a question on the issue, Bertie Ahern, the then-incumbent Taoiseach, stated: "On the question of whether this is the end of the common travel area and should we join Schengen, the answer is 'no'."
Charter of Fundamental Rights – Poland
Although Poland participates in the area of freedom, security and justice, it secured — along with another then-member state the United Kingdom — a protocol that clarified how the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, a part of the Treaty of Lisbon, would interact with national law in their countries limiting the extent that European courts would be able to rule on issues related to the Charter if they were brought to national courts. Poland's then ruling party, Law and Justice, mainly noted concerns that the Charter might force Poland to grant homosexual couples the same kind of benefits that heterosexual couples enjoy.There is considerable debate concerning the legal effect of the protocol. One view, shared by Jan Jirásek, is that the protocol is an opt-out that excludes the application of the Charter to Poland and the United Kingdom. Another, shared by Ingolf Pernice, is that the protocol is only an interpretive one which will either have limited or no legal consequence. Craig and de Burcá argue that the protocol is merely declaratory. It says that the "Charter does not extend the ability" of the ECJ or other court to overturn British or Polish law, but the ECJ already had the power to do this in any case. Accordingly, the Protocol is "unlikely that it will have any significant effect in practice." In NS v Home Secretary, the ECJ ruled that Article 1 of the protocol "explains Article 51 of the Charter with regard to the scope thereof and does not intend to exempt the Republic of Poland or the United Kingdom from the obligation to comply with the provisions of the Charter or to prevent a court of one of those Member States from ensuring compliance with those provisions."
The European Scrutiny Committee of the British House of Commons, including members of both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, cast doubts on the protocol's text, asserting that the clarification might not have been worded strongly and clearly enough to achieve the government's aims.
After the Civic Platform won the 2007 parliamentary election in Poland, it announced that it would not opt-out from the Charter, leaving the United Kingdom as the only state not to adopt it. However, Donald Tusk, the new Prime Minister and leader of the Civic Platform, later qualified that pledge, stating he would consider the risks before abolishing the opt-out, and on 23 November 2007, he announced that he would not eliminate the Charter opt-out after all, stating that he wanted to honour the deals negotiated by the previous government and that he needed the support of Law and Justice to gain the two-thirds majority in the Parliament of Poland required to approve ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. Shortly after the signature of the treaty, the Polish Sejm passed a resolution that expressed its desire to be able to withdraw from the Protocol. Tusk later clarified that he may sign up to the Charter after successful ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon has taken place. However, after the treaty entered into force a spokesperson for the Polish President argued that the Charter already applied in Poland and thus it was not necessary to withdraw from the protocol. He also stated that the government was not actively attempting to withdraw from the protocol. Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski, of Civic Platform, argued that the protocol only narrowly modified the charter's application in Poland, and that formally renouncing the opt-out would require a treaty amendment that would need to be ratified by all EU member states. In April 2012, Leszek Miller, leader of the Democratic Left Alliance, stated that he would sign the charter if he comes to power. According to Andrew Duff, British Member of the European Parliament, "A Polish constitutional mechanism has since been devised whereby Poland can decide to amend or to withdraw from the Protocol, and such a possibility remains under review."