| Author (Person) | Brkan, Maja, Hoogenboom, Alexander |
|---|---|
| Series Title | EU Law Analysis |
| Series Details | 14.04.16 |
| Publication Date | 14/04/2016 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog |
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On 6 April 2016, the Dutch voters – not surprisingly according to the recent polls – rejected the EU-Ukraine association agreement with 61.1 percent of votes against. While the voters came just above the 30 percent threshold, the result itself seems to be quite a convincing “nee”. The EU has so far concluded numerous association agreements with other countries, for example with Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, Egypt, Chile and, most recently, Kosovo. So why was the referendum organised exactly regarding Ukraine? The Dutch referendum should be taken as a warning for the European Union leaders that things can rather easily go wrong if the EU does not sufficiently engage with the domestic level in the context of some of its more controversial decision-making. The almost complete apathy of the Dutch government towards the referendum and the lack of serious attempts at defending the decision to sign the agreement almost certainly contributed to the rejection of the Association Agreement with the Ukraine. The lesson that should be therefore drawn for the future is, as the House of Lords EU committee recently argued for the UK, that Member States should actively take responsibility for their EU Membership, and the decisions they take in that context, and be prepared to defend them at the national level. |
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| Source Link | http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-dutch-referendum-on-euukraine.html |
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| Countries / Regions | Europe, Netherlands, Ukraine |
