Dutch set to defy election result rules

By Martin Banks

Date: 10/06/04

FIRST preliminary results of the election will be available later today (10 June) but cannot be officially released until Sunday - to avoid falling foul of electoral laws.

The Netherlands expects to have completed about 95% of its count by tonight but election rules prevent the European Parliament from publishing these until after the last ballot has closed at 10pm on 13 June.

The European Commission says the law obliges member states to keep their election results under embargo until the last country in the EU has closed its polls.

This is intended to prevent the results in one country from influencing those in another.

Despite the threat of possible legal action, the Netherlands is unwilling to keep its results quiet until Sunday, with local authorities expected to release early results later today.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary chiefs were this week finalizing their plans for the release of the results.

An initial estimate of the political make-up of the new Parliament should be available on Sunday at around 10.45pm. However, a delay in the Polish count means definitive results are not likely to emerge until Monday.

Numerous key political figures will be at the Parliament on election day, including the assembly's outgoing President Pat Cox, Socialist group leader Enrique Barón Crespo, who is stepping down, Liberal leader Graham Watson and Wilfried Martens, president of the European People's Party (EPP).

Other political leaders, including EPP-ED group chairman Hans-Gert Pöttering and Greens co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit, will comment on the results via a TV link.

Article forms part of a European Voice 'European Election Special'.