Referendums in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, from the entry into force of the Advisory Referendum Act^[1] (Wet raadgevend referendum) on 1 July 2015, until its repeal on 18 February 2018, most types of primary laws could be subjected to a suspensory, non-binding referendum if requested shortly after royal assent and subsequent proclamation. If a law was rejected by more than half of the votes cast, with a mandatory turnout of at least 30%, its entry into force was to be suspended indefinitely and a follow-up law had to be enacted that either repealed the law or provided for its entry into force.

The Dutch Constitution has no provisions on referendums, which means that any referendum held at a national or local level cannot be binding as long as the Constitution gives primacy to legislatures. The first reading of a constitutional amendment to introduce a binding, abrogative referendum at national, provincial, municipal and water-board level was completed on 15 October 2014. A second reading of a constitutional amendment proposal cannot take place until after the next general election and would have required a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the States General. A previous attempt failed in May 1999 when the bill was rejected in second reading in the Senate due to VVD Senator Hans Wiegel rebelling against his own party.

Since the constitutional referendum of the Batavian Republic in 1805, only three referendums have been held. The first was the consultative, ad hoc referendum on the European Constitution in 2005. The second was the referendum on the ratification of the Ukraine–EU Association Agreement on 6 April 2016, which was the first referendum under the Advisory Referendum Act. On 21 March 2018, the 2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum was held.

^ "Advisory Referendum Act in force". Dutch Electoral Council. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

[1] "Advisory Referendum Act in force". Dutch Electoral Council. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

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