New EU deal faces multiple referendum threat
Within hours of arriving at a fragile treaty deal for the eurozone and nine other EU states, the agreement delivering deeper integration is already confronting the spectre of multiple referendums and a host of legal barriers.
Serious obstacles are beginning to materialise in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania and Denmark, while Finland, Latvia and the Czech Republic may also present the process with additional hurdles.
Asked repeatedly by reporters whether the transfer of powers to Brussels contained in the deal would provoke a referendum in Ireland, the country’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, refused to comment, saying only that the question first required a consultation with the attorney-general.
However, Irish Europe minister Lucinda Creighton this morning told Reuters that it was a toss-up whether a vote would be necessary.
“I would say it’s 50-50 and we will be looking at the detail over the next couple of weeks,” she said.
Elsewhere in the eurozone, Dutch Prime minister Mark Rutte insisted to reporters that a referendum in the Netherlands - where a referendum on the European Constitution in 2005 delivered a surprise No vote - would not be needed, as it concerns “no big new deals” but only “the cap-stone in the construction of the euro.”
However, other parties in parliament upon which Rutte’s liberals depend, have other ideas.
Rutte’s minority government normally relies on the parliamentary support of the hard-right and eurosceptic Party for Freedom (PVV), with the exception of issues related to the EU. For EU-related legislation, the government requires the support of the opposition Labour Party.
Until now, the social democrats have agreed to back the government through the crisis, but have in recent days suggested that this tacit support could come to an end.