Directory
Encyclopedia

NodeWorks
                              ENCYCLOPEDIA

Link Checker
Home
Encyclopedia : R : RE : REF :

Referenda related to the European Union

  

Referenda related to the European Union

This is a list of referenda related to the European Union.

Enlargement of 1973

Before allowing the new candidate member states to join the European Communities, founding member France held a referendum on 23 April, 1972. The turnout was 60.72%, with 68.28% in favour.

Following that approval, three of the four candidate states (Ireland, Denmark, Norway) likewise held referenda on the issue of joining the European Communities. The results were:

Following the rejection by the Norwegian electorate (53.5% against), Norway did not join.

The United Kingdom did not hold a referendum before joining with the Conservative government of Edward Heath. Labour's manifesto for the 1974 general election included a pledge for a referendum, so after Labour won under Harold Wilson, the referendum was held on whether to remain in the Communities. The result was 67.2% in favour, with a turnout of 64.03%.

See also:

  • Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
  • United Kingdom referendum, 1975.

    Single European Act

    On 26 February, 1986, Denmark held a referendum on the Single European Act. With a turnout of 74.8%, the 56.2% of those voting were in favour.

    The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted Ireland to ratify the Single European Act. It was approved by referendum on 26 May, 1987. The result of the referendum was 69.9% in favour.

    See also:

  • Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

    Maastricht Treaty

    Three countries held referenda on the ratification of the treaty of Maastricht: France, Ireland and Denmark.

    Result was a majority of 68.7% in favour. Turnout was 57.31%.

    See: Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.

    The treaty was verified with a slim margin of victory of 51.05% in favour. Turnout was 69.69%.

    In Denmark, two referendums had to be held before the treaty of Maastricht passed. The first was held on 2 June, 1992, had a turnout of 82.9% but approval of the treaty of Maastricht was denied by a slim margin, with only 47.93% in favour of the treaty.

    After that defeat of the treaty, Denmark negotiated and received the following four opt-outs from portions of the treaty: Economic and Monetary Union, Union Citizenship, Justice and Home Affairs and Common Defense. A new referendum was held on 18 May, 1993. There was a turnout of 85.5% of which the 56.77% voted in favour of the renegotiated treaty.

    Enlargement of 1995

    The 1994 referenda on membership of four new nations were as follows:

    Austria, Sweden and Finland were admitted on January 1, 1995. As the referendum in Norway was 52.2% against joining, the proposal by the Norwegian government to join was rejected for the second time.

    The Åland Islands, a dependency belonging to Finland, also voted (on November 20, 1994) on their accession to the European Union. With a turnout of 49.1% the result was 73.64% in favour, which means that EU law would also apply to the Åland Islands.

    Treaty of Amsterdam

    Irish referendum on Treaty of Amsterdam -

    Danish referendum on Treaty of Amsterdam -

    Treaty of Nice

    Irish referenda on Treaty of Nice -

    Enlargement of 2004

    In 2004 the new enlargement of the European Union involved ten member states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Mediteranean islands of Malta and Cyprus. Referenda about the accession was held in each of these nations with the exception of Cyprus.

    The 2003 referenda dates (in four of the countries, a two-day ballot is held), and the outcomes in each of the candidate countries, are as follows:

    • - 53.60% in favour (March 8)
    • - 89.61% in favour (March 23)
    • - 83.76% in favour (April 12)
    • - 89.95% in favour (May 10-11)
    • - 92.46% in favour (May 16-17)
    • - 77.45% in favour (June 7-8)
    • - 77.33% in favour (June 13-14)
    • - 66.83% in favour (September 14)
    • - 67.00% in favour (September 20)

    Since the referenda results were all in favour of joining, ratification proceeded without problems and the candidate countries became full members of the EU on May 1, 2004.

    European Constitution

    Several member states will use referenda to ratify the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

    The results up to now are as follows:

  • 76.7 % in favour (February 20, 2005)

    See also: Spanish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.


    		•
    NodeWorks boosts web surfing!
    Page Returned in 1.537 seconds - HTML Compressed 72.3%

    This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available
    under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
     GNU Free Documentation License
    © 2008 Chamas Enterprises Inc.