Dutch 'no' camp bikes EU constitution back to Brussels

BRUSSELS - The Netherlands is struggling to draw political conclusions from its "no" vote to the constitution exactly one year ago, as the Dutch Socialist Party returned the moribund charter to Brussels by bike on Thursday.

The leftist Dutch Socialist Party (SP), which spearheaded the successful "no" campaign last year, on Thursday (1 June) symbolically handed the constitution back to the Brussels representation of Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency.

SP politicians had carried the charter to the Austrian representation by bike from The Hague.

Kartika Liotard, an MEP for the Dutch SP, told EUobserver "Exactly one year ago the Dutch population said "no" to the EU constitution. But European politicians give the impression that they want to use the reflection period to just wait for a year or two and then push the same constitution through the back door."

The SP itself is in favour of changes to the EU treaty, but of a different kind than provided by the constitution. "We believe that there should be a clear demarcation of what should be dealt with at the national level, such as the level of criminal sanctions."

"We are also against the writing down of the political direction of the EU in a treaty. The constitution effectively stuck the EU to a neoliberal, right-wing course. We think this should rather be a political choice of every single member state individually."

What lesson to draw?

The Dutch debate on the institutional lessons of last year's "nee" has only just started, contrary to France where the government has submitted a series of institutional proposals after the "non."

A poll for Dutch public television showed last week that that 68 percent of the Dutch would today vote "no" against the constitution which is higher than the percentage last year (61.5%).

The poll also revealed that 83 percent of the Dutch want to have a new say if the constitution text is revised, putting pressure on The Hague to secure substantial changes to the text in possible re-negotiations over the charter.

But from extensive public opinion research on "Europe" revealed in May, the government drew policy-based rather than institutional conclusions.

The Hague said it will support further EU co-operation in justice and energy policy, while putting a break on EU enlargement - but it shied away from statements on the union's political architecture.

Dutch values

Edith Mastenbroek, an MEP and member of the Dutch social democrat opposition which campaigned for a "yes" vote, said "The government has failed to answer the question: What is the Netherlands going to aim for in re-negotiations [on the treaty]? What are we going to defend?"

Ms Mastenbroek said "Part III of the constitution should be broken open so that we achieve maximum co-operation on justice and asylum without giving up our identity," referring to Dutch fears that sovereignty over sensitive issues like drugs policy and asylum could be eroded.

"We should also secure the closure of the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament."

"This would mean an enormous symbolic gesture," she indicated, saying half of the 400,000 people signing the oneseat.eu anti-Strasbourg petition are from the Netherlands.

Ms Mastenbroek added she would like to see an even stronger role for national parliaments in the EU than enshrined in the EU constitution.

Drugs and euthanasia

Alfred Pijpers, a senior fellow at Clingendael institute for International Relations and who advises the government on political reform, also believes that any treaty should protect Dutch values.

"During the referendum debates it emerged that the public has a need for clarity: what will be "European" and what won't? The government had to continuously speak reassuring words: our drugs policy, our gay marriage and our euthanasia practice would not be harmed [by the EU]," the expert wrote in an opinion article in De Volkskrant in February.

Mr Pijpers concluded that "a systematic and principle vision on the demarcation of European an national competences was lacking" in the constitution, advising that in a new treaty, national values should be explicitly protected.

2007 elections

Proponents of the EU constitution across the bloc hope that the Dutch elections, scheduled in May 2007, will produce a government that will ratify the constitution after all.

But Ms Mastenbroek, speaking for her Labour Party which is ahead in the polls, stressed "Wouter Bos [Labour's leader] will absolutely not say yes to this document. This is something that some people in Brussels really don't seem to understand."

Ms Mastenbroek added she would support a referendum on any revised version of a new treaty.

The centre-right liberal VVD party by contrast pleads for only minor changes to the current Nice treaty text, to be ratified on an individual basis by the Dutch parliament.

"If you present people with a 'constitution light' they will still have the feeling they have been misled," said VVD member of the Dutch parliament Hans van Baalen.