2005 Dutch European Constitution referendum

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2005 Dutch European Constitution referendum

1 June 2005
Are you For or Against approval by the Netherlands of the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 2,940,730 38.46% No 4,705,685 61.54% Valid votes 7,646,415 99.24% Invalid or blank votes 58,781 0.76% Total votes 7,705,196 100.00% Eligible to vote/turnout 12,172,740 63.3%
Results by municipality   Yes   No

A consultative referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held in the Netherlands on 1 June 2005 to decide whether the government should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union. The result was a "No" vote.

The vote was the first national referendum for over two hundred years, and was not binding on the government, meaning that despite the electorate rejecting the Constitution it could theoretically still be ratified by the States-General. The government did say, however, that it would abide by a decisive result, provided turnout exceeded 30%. Official results say that 61.6% of voters rejected the Constitution, on a turnout of 63.3%.

The question put to voters was:

Bent u voor of tegen instemming door Nederland met het Verdrag tot vaststelling van een grondwet voor Europa?

"Are you For or Against approval by the Netherlands of the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe?"

The possible answers were voor (For) or tegen (Against). At some polling stations in the larger cities it was also possible to cast a blank ballot. The latter did not count for the result, but allowed voters to make an affirmative abstention.

The referendum came just three days after the French referendum on the Constitution resulted in its rejection. Because all EU member states needed to ratify the treaty for it to take effect, some regarded the Dutch referendum as irrelevant. However, Dutch campaigners for a "Yes" vote appealed to the electorate to avoid damaging the Netherlands' standing in Europe in the way that the French result was perceived, in some quarters, to have weakened the position of France. Before the plebiscite, many "No" campaigners expressed the view that French rejection of the treaty would encourage Dutch voters to follow suit. A second "No" vote in a referendum in another of the founding countries of the European Communities was widely regarded as having the power to "kill off" the treaty. Opinion polls in the days leading up to the referendum gave the "No" campaign a clear lead.