NETHERLANDS: DUTCH VOTE SET TO DELIVER A SECOND "NO" TO THE EUROPEAN UNION'S CONSTITUTION
Record ID:
328727
NETHERLANDS: DUTCH VOTE SET TO DELIVER A SECOND "NO" TO THE EUROPEAN UNION'S CONSTITUTION
- Title: NETHERLANDS: DUTCH VOTE SET TO DELIVER A SECOND "NO" TO THE EUROPEAN UNION'S CONSTITUTION
- Date: 2nd June 2005
- Summary: (W3) AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (JUNE 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SCU NEWSPAPER HEADLINES READING: 'YES OR NO'; SCU SECOND HEADLINE READING: "THE HAGUE FEARS NO'; SCU THIRD NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: 'HISTORICAL TURNOUT EXPECTED' 0.12 2. MV /SCU GRAFFITI BILLBOARD READING: "EU CONSTITUTION, NO THANKS"; CLOSE UP OF A POSTER ON THE BILLBOARD READING: 'ASOCIAL, MILITARISTIC AND UNDEMOCRATIC: NO AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION' WRITTEN OVER THE FACE OF PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE 0.22 (W2) AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (JUNE 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 3. SLV QUEUE OF PEOPLE WAITING TO VOTE; MV OLDER COUPLE RECEIVING BALLOTS; SCU HANDS DEALING PAPERWORK; MV OLDER LADY CASTING HER BALLOT (4 SHOTS) 0.44 (W2) ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (JUNE 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 4. MV PRIME MINISTER JAN-PETER BALKENENDE WALKING WITH HIS WIFE; MV COUPLE ENTERING POLLING STATION; MV BALKENENDE WALKING TO ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE; MV MEDIA, BALKENENDE STANDING BY ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE (4 SHOTS) 1.08 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAN-PETER BALKENENDE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER SAYING: "If we want to make progress in Europe we need a yes. Of course I can imagine there is criticism and sometimes people have some doubts about, let's say, will we have a super-state in Brussels? You can hear these arguments. But if we want a better situation as far as employment is concerned, if we want to continue the fight against terrorism then we need each other. We have a Europe of twenty five, there are so many arguments to say yes, so I am still optimistic." 1.34 (BN10) VENLO, THE NETHERLANDS (JUNE 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 6. MV RIGHT WING LEADER GEERT WILDERS ARRIVING AT POLLING STATION; MV WILDERS QUEUING; MV WILDERS VOTING (6 SHOTS) 2.07 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEERT WILDERS SAYING: "France already said 'No'. If Holland says 'No', if the UK would have a referendum - they probably won't have one anymore, they will have at least three countries (saying 'No'). And I believe, and the Dutch also know, that if two countries, two founding fathers of the EU, say 'No' in a referendum in one week, it is the end of the European constitution. So they know they (Dutch voters) can only help, they wont be isolated but it will be the end of this initiative of the political elite that wants to have not only economic cooperation but some kind of political super state and this is I believe something that people don't want." 2.46 8. WILDERS TALKING TO CAMERA 2.54 (W3) AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 9. SLV TYPICAL AMSTERDAM STREET WITH PEDESTRIANS AND COFFEE SHOP; CLOSE UP OF COFFEE SHOP SIGN IN JAMAICAN COLOURS; WIDE OF ARABICA LOUNGE COFFEE SHOP; CLOSE UP HANDS HOLDING A MARIJUANA CIGARETTE; MV TOURISTS SMOKING HASHISH; WIDE INSIDE THE ARABICA COFFEE SHOP 10. MV COFFEE SHOP OWNER CALLED RASHID CUTTING HASHISH; CLOSE UP OF CUTTING OF HASHISH 3.35 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) COFFEE SHOP OWNER, RASHID SAYING: "It's just all about having one big army, to become a big army power. They just want to become as strong as America, I think that's just what it's all about." 3.45 12. VANESSA TRUSTFULL FROM SURINAM CUTTING MARIJUANA; CLOSE UP OF HANDS CUTTING MARIJUANA 3.56 13. (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) VANESSA TRUSTFULL SAYING: "I think the main reason why people vote 'No' is because they didn't vote on the Euro in the past. What did we get after the Euro? We just went down. Our life was better with the Gulden. I think that's the reason why people's turnout is so big now and why so much people are voting 'No'. Just because now, they can stop something." 4.19 14. SLV BOAT SAILING IN CANAL; BRIDGE OPENING OVER THE CANAL; WIDE OF OLD AMSTERDAM AND A BOAT WITH DUTCH FLAG IN THE FRONT 4.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 17th June 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: AMSTERDAM, ROTTERDAM, VENLO, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA6NZRVK2Y8M1Z94272ASEX8S04
- Story Text: Dutch vote set to deliver a second NO to the EU constitution.
After the French, the Dutch seem set to reject the European
Constitution in a referendum on Wednesday (June 1, 2005).
Polling stations opened at 0530 GMT for the more than 12 million Dutch
eligible to vote.
Although most mainstream Dutch parties, including the centre-right
government, have campaigned for a 'Yes' vote, opinion polls point to a
resounding 'No', with opposition rising
in most surveys since the French rejected the charter on Sunday (May
29).
One poll showed almost two thirds of Dutch, long regarded as
staunchly pro-European but increasingly disaffected with the pace of EU
expansion, planning to vote against the treaty.
The Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende voted in Rotterdam and
said he still optimistic the 'Yes' will win despite latest polls predicting a
wide rejection of the EU constitution by the Dutch people.
"If we want to make progress in Europe we need a yes. Of course I
can imagine there is criticism and sometimes people have some doubts about,
let's say, will we have a super-state in Brussels? You can hear these
arguments. But if we want a better situation as far as employment is
concerned, if we want to continue the fight against terrorism then we need
each other. We have a Europe of 25, there are so many arguments to say yes, so
I am still optimistic," Balkenende said.
Geert Wilders, a populist member of parliament seen as Fortuyn's heir
and rising star of the Dutch right wing voted on in his home city of Venlo, in
the south of the Netherlands, just at the German border.
Wilders could well turn into the main winner of the Dutch referendum on
the EU constitution if the results confirm the predictions of the latest
polls.
After France, the Dutch referendum is set to deliver a second
resounding "No" to the European constitution.
"France already said 'No'", Wilders told Reuters after
voting, predicting the end of the EU constitution after Wednesday Dutch vote.
" And I believe - and the Dutch also know, that if two countries, two
founding fathers of the EU, say 'No' in a referendum in one week, it is the
end of the European constitution," he said.
Wilders has been tapping into Dutch fears about Muslim immigrants, who
now make up 6 percent of the population.
His message seem to be effective. Polls show almost half those voters
planning to vote 'No' are driven by their opposition to Turkey's bid to join
the EU amid concerns it could prompt a surge of migration from the poor,
Muslim country.
Anti-immigration maverick Geert Wilders has campaigned for the 'No'
throughout the Netherlands under heavy guard due to death threat.
Reasons vary, but along immigration fears, euro-discontentment and the
deeply unpopular Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's centre-right
government.
On the left side of the political spectrum, many fear the new
constitution will change the country's liberal laws on soft drugs,
prostitution, abortion and euthanasia.
The Netherlands has long been world famous for its coffee shops where
soft drugs can be bought and smoked, and people fear Brussels will try to
change those laws. The first country in the world to legalise gay marriages,
the Netherlands also stands out for its sexual tolerance.
For years, neighbouring EU countries have been putting pressure on the
Netherlands to tackle cross border soft drugs tourism.
Amsterdam attracts the largest number of tourists in the Netherlands,
including an estimated 1.5 million drug tourists.
Some 400,000 cannabis smokers live in the Netherlands, where they can
openly buy and smoke the drug, to the ire of neighbouring countries. The Dutch
population is 16 million.
The centre-right government now wants to curb drugs tourism, in part
due to pressure from its European partners.
The number of coffee shops has already been cut to 754 nationwide in
2003 from 1,200 in 1997, according to the latest statistics from the
Netherlands Trimbos institute for addiction studies.
Coffee shop owners have also been hit by the adoption of the Euro.
Consumer prices in the Netherlands went up sharply after the country adopted
the single currency creating frustration among Dutch people. Coffee shops
owners, who used to take advantage out of all the different currencies
accepted in coffee shops, feel now poorer than before.
One girl in a coffee shop - having voted against the constitution,
blames the expected massive turnout on the adoption of the Euro: "I think
the main reason why people vote 'no' is because they didn't vote on the Euro
in the past. What did we get after the Euro? We just went down. Our life was
better with the guilder. I think that's the reason why people's turnout is so
big now and why so much people are voting 'no'. Just because now, they can
stop something."
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