Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum, 2016

Dutch EU-Ukraine Association Agreement referendum

Dutch: Bent u voor of tegen de wet tot goedkeuring van de Associatieovereenkomst tussen de Europese Unie en Oekraïne?

Are you for or against the Approval Act of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine?

Location

Netherlands

Date

6 April 2016

Results
	Votes	%
For	1,571,874	7001382100000000000♠38.21%
Against	2,509,395	7001610000000000000♠61.00%
Blank votes	32,344	6999790000000000000♠0.79%
Valid votes	4,113,613	7001990800000000000♠99.08%
Invalid votes	38,000	6999920000000000000♠0.92%
Total votes	4,151,613	100.00%
Eligible to vote/turnout	12,862,658	7001322800000000000♠32.28%

Results by municipality (plurality of votes)

For Against

Suspensory, non-binding referendum which has effect when a simple majority votes "Against" and turnout is at least 30%.

Dutch: Bent u voor of tegen de wet tot goedkeuring van de Associatieovereenkomst tussen de Europese Unie en Oekraïne?

The Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum was a referendum on the approval of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, held in the Netherlands on 6 April 2016. The referendum question was: "Are you for or against the Approval Act of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine?"

With a turnout of 32.28%, the threshold for a valid referendum was met. 61% of the votes cast were against the Approval Act, but accounted for only 19.5% of eligible voters. As the Act was rejected, the States General has to enact a follow-up law to either repeal the Act or put it into effect after all. The referendum is the first since the enactment of the Advisory Referendum Act (Wet raadgevend referendum) on 1 July 2015.

The decision to hold a referendum was made after more than 427,000 valid requests were received within six weeks, more than the required number of 300,000 requests. The referendum was suspensory and non-binding, and following the rejection the Government had to propose "zo spoedig mogelijk" (English: as soon as possible/at the earliest convenience) a new act to either gain parliamentary approval for either retraction of the approval act or for its entry into force. A new law was passed approving the agreement in May 2017.

In the Netherlands, most types of primary laws can be subjected to a suspensory, non-binding referendum after royal assent and proclamation. The request procedure of a referendum consists of two stages. For the initial request, 10,000 requests have to be received within four weeks after proclamation of the law. After the requirements for this stage are met, 300,000 requests have to be received within six weeks after the completion of the initial request.

The Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union (EU), Euratom, their 28 Member States and Ukraine that establishes a political and economic association between the parties. The parties committed to co-operate and converge economic policy, legislation, and regulation across a broad range of areas, including equal rights for workers, steps towards visa-free movement of people, the exchange of information and staff in the area of justice, the modernisation of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and access to the European Investment Bank. The parties committed to regular summit meetings, and meetings among ministers, other officials, and experts. The agreement furthermore establishes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the parties. The agreement enters into force upon ratification by all parties, but parts of the agreement are already applied provisionally.

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Wikipedia