fahrenheit451:020

And How Was The Referendum Process For You ?

On June 23rd.2016AD WE the British Electorate get to cast our vote on whether to remain enslaved behind the barbed-wire of the EU Kz or opt to leave and walk out from under the EU's, " Arbeit Macht Frei "sign.

Referendums though are a tricky thing,especially when it comes to expecting the Kommissars of Strassbourg to respect let alone abide by the outcomes of referendums where those very outcomes weren't the ones foreseen by the Thaumaturgists of Brussels.

Every Treaty ,every amendment to a Treaty,every nationally conferred campaign on a referendum to ratify a Treaty or an amendment has been systematically subjected to the most reprehensible propagandistic interference and attempts at subversion that the European Union has been able to deploy. The once and former sovereign and democratic national states of Ireland and Denmark have suffered more than even Britain from the unashamed and blatant finagling orchestrated by the EU.

Herewith a brief historical resume.

The Irish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was a vote that was planned but did not occur. The referendum was expected to take place in 2005 or 2006 to decide whether Ireland should ratify the proposed EU Constitution. Following the rejection of the Constitution by voters in the French referendum of May 2005 and the Dutch referendum of June 2005, the planned Irish referendum was postponed indefinitely.

National referendums on the European Constitution
Czech Republic	Cancelled
Denmark	Postponed
France	No by 55%. 69% turnout.
Ireland	Cancelled
Luxembourg	Yes by 57%. 88% turnout.
Netherlands	No by 62%. 63% turnout.
Poland	Postponed
Portugal	Postponed
Spain	Yes by 77%. 42% turnout.
United Kingdom	Postponed

Lisbon Treaty

The rejection of the Constitution by French and Dutch voters halted the ratification process. As support by all members was required the Constitution was dropped and in July 2007 theEuropean Council agreed upon the foundation of a new treaty to replace the rejected Constitution. The text agreed upon at the European Council meeting on 18 and 19 October 2007 contained many of the planned changes of the Constitution but would not replace the existing treaties, as the Constitution would have done, but amended them. Before this Reform Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13 December 2007 

The first referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon held on 12 June 2008 was rejected by the Irish electorate, by a margin of 53.4% to 46.6%, with a turnout of 53%.[5]

The second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon held on 2 October 2009 and the proposal was approved by 67.1% to 32.9%, with a turnout of 59%.

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 49.3% in favour of the treaty.

 The failure resulted in the Edinburgh Agreement, a deal which accepted the Danish “national compromise” and kept Denmark within the EU, on condition that the country was granted exemptions, so called “opt-outs”, on four areas of cooperation: the adoption of the euro, security and defence, justice and home affairs (JHA), and EU citizenship.

With the addition of the Edinburgh Agreement, A new referendum was held on 18 May 1993. There was a turnout of 85.5% of which the 56.8% voted in favour of the renegotiated treaty.The four opt-outs have since defined – and to an increasing degree limited - Denmark’s participation in the European integration process.

The controversy around these exemptions has long been a focal issue in the Danish EU-debate. A referendum in 2000 already rejected a proposal to introduce the euro. 

On December 3, 2015 , 53% of Danish voters rejected a proposal of six parliamentary parties to replace Denmark’s long-standing opt-out from the EU’s justice and home affairs system with a case-based opt-in model.

The yes-vote would have ensured sustained participation in Europol, the EU’s police agency, plus the adaption of 22 additional legislative files. What started out as a practical issue became a general opinion poll on relations with the Union with likely impacts on Danish EU policy.

June 23rd. is going to turn out to have been a very interesting day indeed.