Dutch to hold EU constitution vote on 1st of June
The Netherlands will hold a referendum on the new European constitution on June 1, organisers say, amid fears that volatile Dutch voters might reject the treaty if turnout is poor.
It will be the country's first referendum since it became a parliamentary democracy in 1848.
Support for the European Union is traditionally strong in the Netherlands, one of the founding members of the bloc. But euroscepticism is on the rise and officials fear a low turnout might hand a narrow victory to the "No" campaign.
France, another EU founding member, is expected to hold a referendum in May or June on the charter, which was drawn up with the aim of improving the running of the enlarged bloc. Spanish voters overwhelmingly approved the constitution in a referendum on Sunday, but turnout was poor.
Although the Dutch referendum is non-binding, political parties representing a majority in parliament have said they would respect the result if the turnout is high enough. The treaty must be approved by all 25 EU member states.
The independent committee organising the referendum chose June 1 as it was before summer holidays and gave councils enough time to organise the ballot.
The committee said on Wednesday voters would be asked: "Are you for or against The Netherlands agreeing to the treaty to establish a constitution for Europe?"
A later date was also on the table but supporters of the constitution favoured holding the vote before an EU summit mid-June to discuss the bloc's budget given that many Dutch are unhappy at being the EU's biggest per capita contributor.
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