Thirty guilders of silver.....

Biscuitman · 31-01-2005, 02:12 PM

Dutch row over EU referendum campaign
31.01.2005 - 07:51 CET | By Mark Beunderman

The Dutch government has come under heavy criticism following reports that it has reserved 1.5 million euro to fight the "no" campaign against the EU Constitution.

It emerged on Thursday (27 February) that the Dutch cabinet has put aside the money in case the "no" camp runs a successful campaign in the run-up to the referendum on the new EU Constitutional Treaty, to be held in May.

The money comes in addition to the 1 million euro of official state funding for the referendum campaign, which is to be equally divided between the "yes" and "no" campaigns.

Bert Koenders, member of parliament for the opposition Labour Party, said according to Dutch daily De Volkskrant: "The cabinet may sure propagate its "yes" – opinion. But it may not pursue state propaganda with taxpayers’ money in order to confront a successful "no" campaign."

A majority of parties in the parliament share Labours’ view that none of the campaigns should be financially advantaged by the government.

But Hans van Baalen, spokesman for the centre-right coalition party VVD stated: "If the "no"–campaign buys a lot of TV advertising time, the government should be able to react."

Contradicting polls
According to a new Eurobarometer survey conducted for the European Commission, 63 % of the Dutch are in favour of the new EU Charter, while only 11% are against.

Only in Italy (72%) and Belgium (70%) is the amount of support for the EU Constitution higher than in the Netherlands, the poll shows.

However, another survey released last week by senior Dutch election researcher Maurice De Hond for Dutch public television, shows a sharply contrasting picture.

According to this poll, supporters and opponents of the EU Constitution in the Netherlands largely balance each other.

31% of Dutch voters would say "yes" to the new EU treaty, while 34% would reject it.

Mr De Hond predicts that 44% of Dutch voters will cast their vote in the EU referendum, which will be the first national referendum in Dutch history.

mkpdavies · 31-01-2005, 04:08 PM

The same pattern across the EU. Europe has been hijacked and is having it's own resources used to strengthen the hijack. The EU is a parasite, that will drain the whole continent of its resources until it dies.

31-01-2005, 02:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Biscuitman Uber Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 3,486	Thirty guilders of silver..... Dutch row over EU referendum campaign 31.01.2005 - 07:51 CET \| By Mark Beunderman The Dutch government has come under heavy criticism following reports that it has reserved 1.5 million euro to fight the "no" campaign against the EU Constitution. It emerged on Thursday (27 February) that the Dutch cabinet has put aside the money in case the "no" camp runs a successful campaign in the run-up to the referendum on the new EU Constitutional Treaty, to be held in May. The money comes in addition to the 1 million euro of official state funding for the referendum campaign, which is to be equally divided between the "yes" and "no" campaigns. Bert Koenders, member of parliament for the opposition Labour Party, said according to Dutch daily De Volkskrant: "The cabinet may sure propagate its "yes" – opinion. But it may not pursue state propaganda with taxpayers’ money in order to confront a successful "no" campaign." A majority of parties in the parliament share Labours’ view that none of the campaigns should be financially advantaged by the government. But Hans van Baalen, spokesman for the centre-right coalition party VVD stated: "If the "no"–campaign buys a lot of TV advertising time, the government should be able to react." Contradicting polls According to a new Eurobarometer survey conducted for the European Commission, 63 % of the Dutch are in favour of the new EU Charter, while only 11% are against. Only in Italy (72%) and Belgium (70%) is the amount of support for the EU Constitution higher than in the Netherlands, the poll shows. However, another survey released last week by senior Dutch election researcher Maurice De Hond for Dutch public television, shows a sharply contrasting picture. According to this poll, supporters and opponents of the EU Constitution in the Netherlands largely balance each other. 31% of Dutch voters would say "yes" to the new EU treaty, while 34% would reject it. Mr De Hond predicts that 44% of Dutch voters will cast their vote in the EU referendum, which will be the first national referendum in Dutch history. __________________ IF THE EU WAS THE ANSWER, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A STUPID QUESTION!

31-01-2005, 04:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 31,194 Party: Libertarian Party	The same pattern across the EU. Europe has been hijacked and is having it's own resources used to strengthen the hijack. The EU is a parasite, that will drain the whole continent of its resources until it dies. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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