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Dutch vote highlights EU's problem with voters, UK beware

08 April 2016

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"The European Union's long-running problem with voters just got a little worse after the Dutch rejected an agreement on closer EU ties with Ukraine, highlighting the difficulties of further European integration.

Coming less than three months before a British referendum on whether to stay in the EU or leave after 43 years of semi-detached membership, the Dutch vote rang alarm bells in London and Brussels.

Less than a third of the electorate turned out for the consultative Dutch referendum, forced by a grassroots petition launched by eurosceptics. But it was enough to make the ballot valid and oblige Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government to take account of the result.

Jubilant eurosceptic Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders called it "the beginning of the end of the EU". His British counterpart, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, said: "Their 'No' to the EU was a tremendous victory for democracy.""

See the article: Dutch vote highlights EU's problem with voters, UK beware (Reuters, link)

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