This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Dutch referendum EU-Ukraine association agreement'.




Ref. Ares(2016)2997394 - 28/06/2016
Ref. Ares(2021)1327416 - 17/02/2021
From: 
Sent: 

28 September 2015 15:48 
To: 
Art 4.1(b)
 GARCIA BERCERO Ignacio (TRADE); 
 EICHHORN Nele (CAB-MALMSTROM); 
Subject: 
RE: NL referendum on EU UA FTA - follow up  
Art 4.1(b)
As discussed please find here the draft LTT 
Art 4.1(a)
LTT 
• The ratification process of the EU-UA AA/DCFTA is
ongoing, so far 22 Member States have notified
the General Secretariat of the Council of
ratification, we understand that in other Member
States the process is ongoing. The internal
procedure for such ratification is a matter of
national competence.

• Until ratification by all Member States, those parts
of the Association Agreement relating to EU
competences are already being provisionally
applied (since 1 November 2014) and the trade
part of the Agreement, putting in place a Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between
the EU and Ukraine, will provisionally apply as of 1
January 2016.
Background (mostly from EEAS based on an input from NL gvt) 


The groups that are campaigning for a referendum are making use of a new law,
which gives citizens the right to request an advisory referendum on domestic legislation
and international treaties.

At present the situation concerning the ratification process is that the NL
parliament has already voted on the Association Agreement (including the DCFTA)
and is expected to submit the ratification instrument for "promulgation"
Art. 4.1(a)
after 
which the completion of the internal procedure can be notified to the Council of the 
European Union. 
Art 4.1(a)

To be clear, the referendum is a new democratic right and the first time that this
right is being exercised.
Art 4.1(a)
 This is a 
very important agreement for both Ukraine as well as the EU.  

In order to make a referendum  possible 300.000 signatures need to be submitted
before Monday, September 28. [According to media sources, this threshold has been
reached.] But: the Dutch Electoral Council will still have to verify the signatures. They
will have two weeks to finalize this process after which, on October 14, they will
announce whether the threshold for a referendum was reached.


If this is the case, a referendum will need to be organized early 2016.
Art 4.1(a)
Art 4.1(a)

[NOTE GLM: whether the referendum will have an impact on the overall EU
calendar of ratification process and conclusion of the AA/DCFTA depend ultimately on the speed 
to which the other members who have neither ratified nor notified will accelerate their 
procedures. 
Art 4.1(a)
Art 4.1(a)

From:  Art 4.1(b)
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 10:40 AM 
To:
Art 4.1(b)
Subject: NL referendum on EU UA FTA.  
Dear All 
As you will see from the emails below and attached. The Netherlands flagged at TPC D on  11 
September, that signatures are being sought online for a public initiative referendum on the EU 
Ukraine FTA. They have confirmed that a sufficient number of signatures have been collected 
and pending verification, will be sufficient to trigger a consultative  referendum on the 
agreement. 
Art 4.1(a)
I will now ask NL for some further information on the form of the referendum but for 
your information. I copy, for info, Nele who raised a particular interest in this at the time.  
Art 4.1(b)
From:  Art 4.1(b)
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2015 7:56 PM 
To: 
Art 4.1(b)
Subject: RE: NL Legislation 
Art 4.1(b)
The weblog just announced it collected 440,000 signatures, which should be 
sufficient to organize the referendum. The signatures will be checked in the 
coming days/weeks. 
Best, 
Art 4.1(b)
From:  Art 4.1(b)
Sent: maandag 14 september 2015 13:50:17 
To: 
Art 4.1(b)
Subject: RE: NL Legislation 
Dear  Art 4.1(b)
This is very helpful indeed. Many thanks 
Art 4.1(b)
From: 
Art 4.1(b)
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2015 1:30 PM 

To:  Art 4.1(b)
Subject: RE: NL Legislation 
Dear  Art 4.1(b)
The referendum law can into effect on 1 July 2015. The referendum is 
consultative. See e.g.: 
http://www.referendumplatform.nl/1432 
Within 8 weeks after parliamentary approval (of a law or a Treaty) anybody who 
wants to organize a referendum should collect 10,000 signatures as a 
preliminary step. If collected, than step 2 is to collect 300,000 signatures within 
the next six weeks. For the fta with Ukraine this second period ends on 
September 28. 
The weblog that started the initiative is: 
http://www.geenstijl.nl/ 
They developed a special website: 
http://geenpeil.nl/ 
These websites are in Dutch only. 
Art 4.1(a)
Should you have more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. 
Best, 
Art 4.1(b)
The remaining text is out of scope

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