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62% of the Netherlands say "Nee!"
The Netherlands have added their voice to the small but growing list of countries who don't want to be dictated to from Brussels (or Strasbourg) as 62% of their voters rejected the EU Constitution yesterday. To me this is much more significant than the French 'Non' on Sunday, which, according to media reports was much to do with domestic economic conditions, dissatisfaction with the French president and the overly 'Anglo Saxon' leanings of the EU (are they having a laugh?).
Follow up:
In the Netherlands though, the no camp seem to have been unsatisfied that too much power was being diverted to Brussels and that their own elected representatives weren't doing enough to protect them (apparently helped by reluctance to let Turkey in).
This is much more similar to the situation in the UK where many are worried that power is becoming more and more distant. In an ever-enlarging EU, power should be held locally, by the 'member states' (Eurospeak for countries) and not dictated by faceless European bureaucrats concerned with the colours of fire extinguishers and what we can/can't call chocolate.
It really looks like the constitution in its current form is dead. The cheese-eating surrender monkeys in France have rejected it because it is not socialist enough, while the likes of Britain are likely to reject it because it's too socialist! Its hard to see how the constitution could be renegotiated to the satisfaction of both.
Denmark, Poland, Luxembourg and Portugal have already set dates for their respective referenda while the Czech Republic, Irish Republic and the UK planned to hold referenda but have not set dates. Despite 2 rejections, EC president Jose Manuel Barroso wants the ratification process to continue. It seems like a futile exercise for the Europhiles, and Tony Blair is unlikely to want to launch headlong into a referendum that will almost certainly end in his defeat, but I would welcome the chance to put a firm NO in the ballot box.
If and when there is a UK vote on this issue remember the immortal words of Dominique Perben, the French justice minister, who (before the French 'Non') said:
"At last we have obtained this 'Europe àla Française' that we have for so long awaited. This constitutional treaty ... is an enlarged France."
The UK are likely to reject it, as are the Danes. The Irish Republic's result will probably be close now that the initial love affair with the EU has worn off (in other words the Republic has become a net contributor).