The European Union Bill 2004–2005 (Bill 45) was a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

of the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

which proposed to ratify the

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...

and to incorporate it into the domestic law of the United Kingdom and to amend the European Communities Act 1972 to include it in the list of Treaties and hold a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on whether to approve the proposed Constitution which would be overseen by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. The bill was first introduced during the parliamentary session of 2004/2005 and received a second reading. It fell at the end of that parliament. The bill was reintroduced in the new parliament and the 2005/2006 session; however, it was withdrawn after its first reading by

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretar ...

on 6 June 2005 following "no" votes in referendums that were held on ratifying the European Constitution in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. If the referendum had gone ahead it would have been the first UK-wide referendum to have been held since the 1975 European Communities membership referendum, which at the time had been the only nationwide referendum to be held. No date for the proposed referendum was ever set; however, the expectation was at the time that it would have been held sometime in the first six months of 2006 with the possibility that it could have been held on the same day as the 2006 UK local elections which were scheduled and duly held on 4 May 2006.

Proposed referendum question

The bill gave the question to appear on ballot papers: and in Welsh: permitting a simple YES/NO answer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:European Union Bill 2004-2005 United Kingdom–European Union relations 2005 in European Union law Proposed laws of the United Kingdom Referendums in the United Kingdom 2004 in British politics 2005 in British politics 2004 in British law 2005 in British law Brexit-related statutes

Proposed referendum question

See also

References