Les Jones: Dutch May Vote Against EU Constitution

March 15, 2005

European Union > Dutch May Vote Against EU Constitution

The Netherlands, one of the founding members of the EU, may vote against the new EU constitution. Via The Corner.

While international attention has been focused on the French referendum, just three days earlier on May 29, the Dutch are far more likely to slam on the brakes of the constitutional juggernaut. Polls in France still show a majority in favour of the constitution, but the Government in The Hague has been shocked to find that a majority of its citizens are opposed, and by no small margin.
A recent poll was telling. It showed that 42 per cent of Dutch would choose to vote "no", against 28 per cent who plan to vote "yes". The Netherlands is the only founding member of the EU in which opinion polls suggest that the constitution will be rejected.

Posted by lesjones

Comments

The Dutch have great fear for the EU constitution, an important reason for this is the loss of the vote rights in the currently known way.

The Netherlands is a small country, with many people per square kilometer. After a constitution like this would apply, The Netherlands practically loses their say in the EU for good.

If new invironmental laws will be voted based on per square kilometer policies, The Netherlands has no way to protect herself. The Dutch economy has been one of the strongest in the world, the Dutch fear that they cannot meet the requirements or vote against any law that could take the last breath out of their country.

Also, many Dutch people really want their strong Gilder back, life became very expensive since the comming of the Euro for the Dutch, because the value of the Gilder was not projected properly. The government was aware of this and did not take action at that time. This news was published not too long ago, causing the Dutch to distrust the government and/or European Union.

Will Europe become a country? That is a question that the Dutch ask themselves. The Netherlands, with its wooden shoes, tulips and windmills... will it still be The Netherlands or Holland? Are we Dutch or European? These questions are being asked to one another with conclusion that a constitution is a law system for a country, which gives the creepy thought Europe is already a acting country with local governments.

The advantages the constitution will give to the Dutch are rather small, maybe not for corporations, but for the average citizen the new rights through the constitution seem useless.

Many Dutch citizens wished that there was a referendum about the comming of the Euro, the bigger part of the Dutch would have voted against.

Most Dutch have the knowledge that they pay a substantial fee to be part of the EU, a fee that is known to be more then 2 times higher then the country with the second highest fee. The advantages have seemed to be........ Well... That would be all.

Good luck to all Dutch, place a wise vote!

p.s. Remember what was said "There is no plan B"

Posted by: Timotheus Meedendorp at May 22, 2005