The many proposals made by the Conference on the Future of Europe (see EUROPE 12953/1 and 12954/1) include calling an EU-wide referendum, by initiative of the European Parliament (proposal 38.2).
If this idea ever becomes reality, it would be completely without precedent, as there has never been a referendum held internationally before. Furthermore, the operation would stem from a Parliamentary initiative, whereas it is usually the national executive which arranges them – or, in certain cases, they originate from a popular initiative.
Retrospectively, the referendum has a whiff of the plebiscite about it, but prospectively, for many, it represents an adequate means to breathe new life into democracy. Detractors complain that it coalesces parties with nothing in common except the opposition campaign and that polarisation deprives democracy of the expression of all its nuances and boils everything down to the lowest common denominator, even though the matter at stake is far more complex. Its proponents argue that parliamentary democracy is not enough to maintain links with the people, who must be offered opportunities to express themselves directly on a number of issues, pointing to Switzerland as an admirable embodiment of their argument.
The European Union has a problematic relationship with direct democracy. On the one hand, the treaty unambiguously states that it is based on representative democracy (article 10.1 TEU), while on the other, its history is littered with examples of decisions that have been made by referendum. While no popular consultation was organised in any of the six founding states, there have been many accession referendums, from the first wave of enlargement onwards.
Ireland got the ball rolling in May 1972, followed by Norway and Denmark; the Norwegians were the only ones to vote against joining. The United Kingdom became a member of the Communities by parliamentary ratification, but the referendum of June 1975 kept the country in. In all three positive cases, the votes cast in favour were comfortably above the 60% mark.
The accessions of Greece, Spain and Portugal were managed by parliamentary procedures, but things changed dramatically in the enlargement of 1995: the Austrian, Finnish and Swedish held referendums resulted in three “yeses”; Norway, once again, voted no. Specific consultations were also arranged by Denmark for Greenland, which asked to leave the Communities (which it did in 1985) and Finland in the autonomous region of the Åland Islands, where the electorate voted in.
In the large wave of enlargement in the early 21st century, referendums were held in 11 countries of the 13 new members: Bulgaria and Cyprus were the only exceptions. All these referendums were favourable to accession, with majorities ranging from 53.6% (Malta) to 92.5% (Slovakia).
All in all, the populations of 17 member states out of 28 were invited to have a say on joining the Communities or the Union, providing a fairly robust democratic basis.
France offers us a couple of unique takes on the referendum. Algeria, which was part of the French territory when it joined the EEC, left in its accession referendum of 1962. Then, in April 1972, President Pompidou called upon the French people to take position in a referendum on the United Kingdom joining the Communities: 68.3% voted “oui”, but the turnout was low (60.7%). In any event, it is the only time a referendum has ever been held in one member state to adjudicate on the accession of another.
Much later, in the referendum of 2016, the population of the United Kingdom narrowly voted in favour of leaving the EU (EUROPE 11580/1). There are no other such cases at national level.
Referendums have been held on adopting the single currency. The Danish in 2000 and the Swedish in 2003 voted against the euro.
Ratifying treaty change is where things get really complicated. Only Denmark (in certain cases) and Ireland are constitutionally obliged to approve ratifications by referendum. The Danes approved the Single European Act in February 1986, but rejected the Treaty of Maastricht in June 1992. The government secured several exemption clauses (EMU, European citizenship, justice and home affairs, defence) and the results of the second referendum, held in May 1993, came down in favour of the treaty. Denmark then ratified the Treaty of Amsterdam in a single popular vote (May 1998), and the Treaty of Nice by parliamentary procedure. A further positive referendum was held in May 2014 on joining the Unified Patent Court, in Denmark alone.
In Ireland, the “yes” won out first time round for the Single European Act (February 1986) and the Treaty of Maastricht (June 1992). The Treaty of Nice, on the other hand, was rejected in June 2001. Once guarantees were in place that Ireland would keep its Commissioner, a second referendum yielded a “yes” in October 2002. The Treaty of Lisbon was also initially rejected in June 2008 and then, on the basis of reassurances from the European Commission and amid concerns of isolation, Ireland was the last country to ratify it, in a second referendum in October 2009, thereby allowing the Treaty to enter into force (EUROPE 9991/2). The European Budgetary Pact was also approved by referendum in May 2012.
In 1989, with a view to the forthcoming negotiations on the Treaty of Maastricht, the Italian government held a consultative referendum on the country’s membership of the Communities, to coincide with the European elections; the result was positive, to the tune of more than 88%.
The French State has a choice between ratification by elected representatives meeting in Congress and a referendum. The latter option has been used twice. For the Treaty of Maastricht, the French voted yes by the slenderest of margins (51.1%) in September 1992. As for the constitutional treaty, it was rejected by 54.6% of the electorate in May 2005 in a blow to the rest of Europe (EUROPE 8957/2), with 18 member states having already ratified the text by the parliamentary route.
Ireland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom, which had intended to hold referendums, then dropped their plans. Luxembourg went ahead with its referendum in July. At around the same time, consultative referendums were held in Spain and the Netherlands: only the latter voted against the treaty. The outcome of the endeavour was as follows: three populations for, two against and six not given a say, either directly or even through their parliaments. (To be continued).
Renaud Denuit