The Dutch Referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: Legal Implications and Solutions

Abstract

This chapter will analyse the legal consequences of the outcome of the Dutch referendum of 6 April 2016 concerning the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The result of the referendum raised the question whether a single Member State can 'veto' the entry into force of a bilateral association agreement. Due to the unprecedented nature of this situation and the fact that the EU Treaties do no give a clear answer to this question, many issues related to the non-ratification of mixed agreements remain unclear. Therefore, after briefly analysing the 'mixed' nature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and its current legal status, the legal consequences of the Dutch 'tegen' (against) are explored, focussing on the provisional application of the agreement. Finally, the solution of the Dutch government to deal with the outcome of the referendum, and some alternatives, are discussed.

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“…One was excluding the Netherlands from the contracting parties of the Agreement, another – a UK‐style opt‐out from some parts of the Agreement. Both solutions were ridden with legal and political uncertainty (Van der Loo, 2016). Ultimately, the answer was found through a Decision of the Heads of state or Government of the 28 member states (European Council, 2016b), representing in effect an international agreement between them.…”

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