1992 French Maastricht Treaty referendum
French voters narrowly approve Maastricht Treaty ratification
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗51.04% to 48.95%. The French called it the petit oui — the little yes — and it was the celebrated, politically sobering margin on which ratification turned.
The certified count
On 20 September 1992, French voters answered yes or no to a bill authorizing ratification of the Treaty on European Union.
The Constitutional Council's certified figures were 13,162,992 yes votes against 12,623,582 no — 51.04% to 48.95% of valid votes. Certified turnout was 26,695,951 voters, 69.69% of a registered electorate of 38,305,534.
On referendum night President François Mitterrand announced that it appeared certain a majority had approved the treaty.
Nobody made France hold a referendum
France was required to ratify according to its constitutional procedures, but a public vote was not mandatory. Mitterrand explicitly explained that an ordinary parliamentary law could have authorized ratification instead.
After Parliament revised the Constitution to permit ratification, he used his discretion to send the bill to the electorate.
He had announced that decision on 3 June, immediately after Denmark rejected Maastricht in its first referendum.
What the yes vote did and did not do
Voters approved a French authorization bill. They did not bring the European Union or the euro into being that night.
The Constitutional Council proclaimed the final result on 23 September, after annulments and corrections of material errors at polling places, and Law No. 92-1017 authorizing ratification was promulgated on 24 September.
The treaty still needed every signatory to finish ratifying; it entered into force on 1 November 1993.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited
How this was checked
Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →
What the sources leave uncertain
- The Interior Ministry’s current results archive displays slightly different election-night or pre-certification totals. This sheet uses the Constitutional Council’s final 23 September figures, issued after annulments and corrections of material errors.
Checked against
- Constitutional Council proclamation of the referendum result
- University of Perpignan reproduction of the certified referendum figures
- National Assembly history of the Maastricht ratification law
- Mitterrand’s referendum-night address
- Law No. 92-1017 authorizing ratification
- EUR-Lex summary of the Maastricht Treaty