Noes That Should Have Been Yeses: the Dutch Referendums Concerning the European Constitutional Treaty (2005) and the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement (2016)

Abstract

This article discusses two European referendums held in the Netherlands in 2005 and 2016 on the approval of the European Constitutional Treaty and the ratification of the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement respectively. It investigates their backgrounds and outcomes and how they unfolded, drawing conclusions on striking similarities that can be discerned between them. In both cases, legislation that made the referendums possible was driven by ideas of popular involvement; the referendum campaigns were characterised by the discomfort of the political elite and the dominance of the no-camp; and they resulted in a popular rebuff, an outcome that the legislature could and would only very partially honour. The article demonstrates how the experience resulted in disillusionment, both for voters and politicians, and eventually led to the withdrawal of the corrective referendum bill.