(FORTUNE Magazine) – Ask a European how 1992 can end in June. While trade barriers will continue to fall, the dream of a common European currency and growing political unity suddenly looks shattered. The recent Danish vote to nix the Maastricht treaty -- which envisaged a sort of United States of Europe -- reflects a rising sense of uneasiness by voters across the Continent. A recent telephone poll for German public TV showed 81% are now against further European unity. Revolt is spreading fast in Britain. Blame this collapse on voters' anxieties over the loss of national currencies, the extension of voting rights to foreigners, and the growing powers of bureaucrats in Brussels, the EC headquarters, and the European parliament in Strasbourg. Says Paul Horne, a Smith Barney economist in Paris: ''There's a nasty risk of Balkanism across Europe at the moment. Everyone sees they have something to lose, but what they have to gain is not always evident.'' Although stocks took a dip with Denmark's June 2 vote (see chart), European companies and immigrant U.S. outfits can at least take comfort that open borders to goods and people and the harmonization of most standards and regulations are not part of the Maastricht treaty. Those should take place at the end of the year as planned. As for the Maastricht accord, Europe's political leaders are now feverishly searching for a compromise -- perhaps a more diluted form of political and monetary union. Jacques Delors, EC commission president, remains an optimist. Says he: ''Even if we have a little crisis, we shall overcome it.'' -- C.R.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: FORTUNE CHART/SOURCE: MORGAN STANLEY CAPITAL INTL. CAPTION: EUROPE'S STOCK REACTION