In the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, from the entry into force of the Advisory Referendum Act (''Wet raadgevend referendum'') on 1 July 2015, until its repeal on 18 February 2018, most types of
primary laws could be subjected to a suspensory, non-binding
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
if requested shortly after
royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
and subsequent
proclamation
A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...
. If a law was rejected by more than half of the votes cast, with a mandatory turnout of at least 30%, its entry into force was be suspended indefinitely and a follow-up law had to be enacted that either repealed the law or provided for its entry into force.
The
Dutch Constitution
The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...
has no provisions on referendums, which means that any referendum held at a national or local level cannot be binding as long as the Constitution gives primacy to legislatures. The first reading of a constitutional amendment to introduce a binding, abrogative referendum at national,
provincial,
municipal
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
and
water-board level was completed on 15 October 2014. A second reading of a constitutional amendment proposal cannot take place until after the
next general election and would have required a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the
States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to:
Currently in use
* Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000
* States Gener ...
. A previous attempt failed in May 1999 when the bill was rejected in second reading in the
Senate due to
VVD
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...
Senator
Hans Wiegel
Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson.
Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...
rebelling against his own party.
Since the
constitutional referendum of the Batavian Republic in 1805, only three referendums have been held. The first was the
consultative, ''ad hoc'' referendum on the European Constitution in 2005. The second was the
referendum on the ratification of the
Ukraine–EU Association Agreement on 6 April 2016, which was the first referendum under the Advisory Referendum Act. On 21 March 2018, the
2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum
An advisory referendum on the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 (, abbreviated 'Wiv') was held in the Netherlands on 21 March 2018, alongside the municipal elections. It was the second referendum to be held under the Dutch Advisory Refe ...
was held.
Legal history
In the Netherlands,
bills are generally submitted by the Government, but also individual members of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
have the right to introduce bills. In 2005, Members of Parliament
Niesco Dubbelboer (
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
),
Wijnand Duyvendak
Anton Johan Wijnand (Wijnand) Duijvendak (born 30 November 1957) is a Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch politician. He is a former member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, House of Representatives for GreenLeft.
Biography
Du ...
(
GreenLeft
GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands.
It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...
) and
Boris van der Ham
Boris van der Ham (born 29 August 1973) is a Dutch writer, humanist, former politician, and actor. On 23 May 2002, he became a member of the House of Representatives for the Democrats 66, a social liberal party. From 24 November 2012 to 21 Nove ...
(
Democrats 66) introduced the bill that would become the Advisory Referendum Act. Its accompanying explanatory memorandum started with a quote of former
US president
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
: "I believe in the
..referendum, which should be used not to destroy representative government, but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative."
The bill's initial sponsors were succeeded by
Paul Kalma (Labour),
Femke Halsema
Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim bas ...
(GreenLeft),
Pierre Heijnen
Pierre Maria Michel Heijnen (born 5 October 1953 in The Hague) is a Dutch politician and former civil servant. As a member of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) he was an House of Representatives (Netherlands), MP ...
(Labour),
Jolande Sap
Johanna Catharina Maria "Jolande" Sap (born 22 May 1963) is a former Dutch politician and former educator and civil servant. A member of GroenLinks (GL), she replaced Wijnand Duyvendak as a member of the House of Representatives on 3 September ...
(GreenLeft),
Linda Voortman (GreenLeft),
Gerard Schouw (Democrats 66) and
Manon Fokke
Hermanna (Manon) Fokke (born 16 January 1976 in Vriezenveen) is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) was an MP between 20 September 2012 and 23 March 2017. Previously she was a member of the municipal counc ...
(Labour) before it was adopted by both chambers.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on 14 February 2013 with 98 votes in favour and 52 against. All parties except the coalition party
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...
and the three Christian parties –
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...
,
ChristianUnion
The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more social ...
and the
Reformed Political Party – voted in favour. In the Senate, the opposing votes came from the same four parties and the bill passed with 45 votes in favour and 30 against. It was signed into law on 30 September 2014 and entered into force on 1 July 2015.
In 2018 however, both the assembly and senate voted to repeal the referendum law
Provisions
Under the Advisory Referendum Act, a referendum could be requested for any piece of primary legislation, including treaty ratifications, after it was signed into law and published in the ''
Staatscourant'', but generally before it enters into force (subject to exceptions). The law excludes several subjects, such as laws concerning: the
monarchy
A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...
or royal family, the national budget, constitutional amendments, legislation passed solely for the execution of treaties or decisions of intergovernmental organisations,
Kingdom acts (unless they will solely apply to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
) and legislation passed in response to a previous referendum.
The request procedure of a referendum consisted of two stages. For the preliminary request, 10,000 requests had to be received within four weeks after proclamation of the law. Upon completion of this stage, the provisions concerning entry into force of the law in question were suspended until the procedure has come to an end. For the definitive request, 300,000 requests had to be received within six weeks after the completion of the preliminary request. If this was not successful, the 30% turnout had not been met or the law is approved, then the law could enter into effect by
royal decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
. If the law was rejected, then the suspension is indefinite and a follow-up law must be enacted that either repeals the law or overrides the suspended provisions to let the law enter into force after all.
A referendum commission was appointed by the government every four years. The commission decided the referendum date and question, subsidies for campaigns ("for" as well as "against") and gave neutral information on the referendum question. On 1 October 2015 the first referendum commission was installed. It was chaired by
Medy van der Laan, and further consisted of A.B. Blomberg, Willemien Den Ouden, Ruud Koole and Reint Jan Renes.
Criticism of the turnout requirement
The Advisory Referendum Act has been criticised for its turnout requirement. Senior lecturer Casper Albers from the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...
argued that the requirement would lead to an "
player" variant of the
prisoner's dilemma
The Prisoner's Dilemma is an example of a game analyzed in game theory. It is also a thought experiment that challenges two completely rational agents to a dilemma: cooperate with their partner for mutual reward, or betray their partner ("def ...
. Due to the turnout requirement, proponents can choose whether to vote to achieve the desired outcome, whereas opponents must vote. This consideration can affect the outcome if proponents contribute decisively to the turnout and a majority votes against.
In the run-up to the Ukraine–EU Association Agreement referendum in 2016, some analysts estimated that the turnout would be around 30%, expressing doubt that the requirement would be met. The referendum had a turnout of 32.28% with a majority of 61% against.
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Ronald Plasterk
Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk (; born 12 April 1957) is a Dutch scientist, entrepreneur and retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has earned a PhD degree in biology, specialised in molecular genetics. Being a former Minister of the Du ...
committed to an evaluation of the Act.
Referendums and referendum requests
As of October 2017, 2 acts have received enough preliminary requests (>10,000) to move to the definitive request stage. For one act sufficient definitive requests were obtained (>300,000) for a referendum. A list of acts for which more than 50 preliminary requests were received is shown below.
Ukraine-EU association agreement referendum requests
Are you for or against the Approval Act of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine?
, date =
, yes = 1,571,874
, no = 2,509,395
, other = 32,344
, total = 4,151,613
, electorate = 12,862,658
, yes_text = For
, no_text = Against
, othertype = Blank votes
, voter_registration=no
The first referendum held based on the Consultative Referendum Act concerned the approval act of the
Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine and was held in 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 The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to:
Currently in use
* Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000
* States Gener ...
had to enact a follow-up law to either repeal the Act or put it into effect after all. Following the vote, the government secured an additional agreement between the 28
Member States of the European Union addressing what were according to the government the concerns of the no-vote in December 2017. The additional agreement did not change the association agreement and neither Ukraine nor the European Union or Euratom were parties to the additional agreement.
Following the approval of the additional agreement, a new law was passed approving the Assocication Agreement in May 2017,
enabling the Netherlands to deposit its instrument of ratification on 15 June 2017.
The association agreement entered into force on 1 September 2017.
Temporary and ad hoc referendum measures
Before 2015, there was no permanent provision in law for a referendum. However, from 2002 until 2005, a Temporary Referendum Act in place, which allowed for non-binding referendums, known in Dutch as ''volksraadpleging'' ("people's consultation"), to be organised for laws already approved by the House of Representatives. No referendum was called based on this law.
In order to hold the
2005 referendum on the
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an un ratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...
, a different law was temporarily put in place. That referendum was the first national referendum in the Netherlands since the
1805 referendum in the Batavian Republic, and it was the result of an initiative proposal by parliamentarians
Farah Karimi (GreenLeft), Niesco Dubbelboer (Labour) and Boris van der Ham (Democrats 66), who also initiated the Consultative Referendum Act.
References
{{Referendums in Europe