Dutch wake up late to constitution campaign as French voters dither

By Martin Banks

Date: 07/04/05

The Dutch government is to begin distribution next week of a specially produced newspaper containing the text of the European constitution, as it steps up preparations for its referendum on 1 June.

The newspaper will be available at libraries, post offices and municipal offices from Monday (11 April) and will be sent, free of charge, to all interested parties.

A shorter summary will also be sent with voting ballots before the Netherlands' first referendum since it became a parliamentary democracy in 1848.

The low-key campaign has, so far, been overshadowed by the campaign in France and some are suggesting the vote should be cancelled if French voters reject the constitution.

Rejection in the Netherlands looks unlikely.

The trade unions, the Dutch parliament and all the major political parties are urging people to vote 'Yes'. Only parties to the extreme right, the LPF, and the left, the Socialist Party, are opposed to the constitution.

A recent government poll said there had been a rise in the number of people intending to vote 'Yes': 44% now compared with 29% in January, with the increase mostly coming from the group that previously was 'undecided' (down to 32% from 49%).

The number indicating they will vote 'No' rose slightly from 20% to 23%.

With less than two months to go before the 1 June referendum, latest polls say that 68% of voters feel "badly informed" about the treaty and that nearly one-third are still undecided.

A Dutch government spokesperson on the referendum campaign, said: "The government concluded from this and previous research that there is a great need to spread more information on the constitution."

Sjerp van der Vaart, who heads the European Parliament's information office in The Hague, says the campaign is in danger of being "hijacked" by other issues, such as the government's highly controversial decision to push through cuts in public spending.

Van der Vaart said the Dutch government had failed to invest sufficient amounts of time and money into selling the merits of the constitution.

"In the Spanish referendum, footballers and pop stars were used to promote the treaty and over €10 million was spent in a ten-month campaign. In Holland, we spend €1m in six weeks and have anodyne politicians to do the same job.

"I am afraid that what is being done now is too little, too late."

An offer of €50,000 to the Dutch 'No' camp by the Independence and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament was declined because the 'Yes' and 'No' movements are receiving equal government funding for their campaigns - €400,000 each, with €200,000 going to the 'neutral' camp.

Johannes Blokland, a Dutch ID MEP and leading 'No' campaigner, said the government should cancel the campaign if the French vote 'No' two days earlier. "What purpose could there be in the Dutch going out to vote on a constitution that no longer exists?" he said.

Dutch Green MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg said the government should get its act together and campaign much harder than it has so far.

Ex-MEP Michiel van Hulten, now director of Better Europe, an independent group campaigning for a 'Yes' vote, said: "A 'No' would not be a disaster, but would represent a setback in our ability to deal with the problems that Europe as a whole faces today."

Analysis feature on the popular debate in the Netherlands ahead of the referendum on the ratification of the European Constitution, to be held on 1 June 2005.