Barroso to put Dutch “under pressure” on Constitution – Dutch Government will pass decision on holding referendum to council of experts, Open Europe notes February 7, 2007.

Le Monde reports that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will address parliament in the Hague on Thursday February 8 to put the Dutch government “under pressure” on the EU Constitution, according to Dutch media.

EUobserver reports that Barroso is quoted in Dutch newspapers urging against holding a referendum: “Referendums make the process of approval of European treaties much more complicated and less predictable," he said, asking "every member state" considering a referendum to "think twice… it does make our lives with 27 member states in the EU more difficult. If a referendum had been held on the creation of the European Community or the introduction of the euro, do you think these would have passed?"

The article reports that the Netherlands is set to postpone a decision on whether to hold a second referendum on the European Constitution until a new version of the text is agreed at EU level. The Government will hand the decision on whether to hold a referendum to the Council of State, the country's highest constitutional advisory body. The article notes that this means that until other member states have agreed upon a new treaty - planned for 2008 - it will be unclear whether this treaty will be subject to a vote in Holland.

The Le Monde article goes on to report that the new government under Prime Minister Balkenende is expected to reject the term “Constitution”, call for a better definition of the powers of Brussels relative to member states, for limits in EU powers in certain areas (such as social issues) and increases in others (such as justice and immigration). The article notes that the largest parties in the new coalition, Labour and the Christian Democrats, “secretly hope that parliament will be able to ratify any new text, in order to avoid a second referendum and another no-vote that would isolate the Netherlands even more”. However, the third coalition and smallest partner, the Christian Union, has been one of the strongest opponents of the Constitution project.