But should supporters of the remain campaign in Britain be quaking in their boots? Not necessarily.
The result is not a devastating victory for Eurosceptics. Neither is it the “continental crisis” that European grandees feared. This is not 2005, when Dutch voters turned out in far larger numbers to reject the EU constitution. Just under one-third (32%) of the electorate turned out to vote on Wednesday, compared with a 63% turnout in 2005. The campaign was lacklustre and lacked the political charge of 2005.
Moreover, comparisons between the UK and Dutch referendums are valid only up to a certain point. The latter came about because a satirical website, GeenStijl (meaning ‘no style’), allied with Eurosceptic campaigners, managed to gather enough signatures to force the government to hold a non-binding referendum on ratification of the EU-Ukraine agreement. (Under a Dutch law agreed in 2015, a referendum must be called if 300,000 voters sign a petition in favour).
Many Dutch voters objected to the poll and disliked the organisers. Some described it as a prank or a hoax and decided not to vote on principle. The worst-case scenario for the yes campaign seemed to come true: people who supported the association agreement and were broadly in favour of the EU didn’t turn out to vote. For others, the subject – a 2,135-page treaty partly in force – seemed confusing and obscure.
