On Thursday EP Foreign Affairs committee chair Elmar Brok (EPP, DE), EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee chair Andrej Plenković (EPP, HR) and Ukraine standing rapporteur Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (EPP, PL) issued a statement on the outcome of the Dutch referendum: The europarliamentarians stress that it is the EU as a whole with all the 28 Member States who should decide, not 20% of voters of one Member State, representing 0,6% of the entire EU population, in a referendum which has a consultative nature.
"The Association Agreement has been already ratified by 27 EU Member States, by the European Parliament and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and approved by the two Dutch chambers and by the Dutch government. We believe that it is the EU as a whole with all the 28 Member States who should decide, not 20% of voters of one Member State, representing 0,6% of the entire EU population, in a referendum which has a consultative nature," europarliamentarians said in a joint statement.
They called on the Dutch government to communicate its position as soon as possible and consequently to the Commission to propose a way forward.
At the same time, the autors of the statement point out that "the EU of the need to engage with our citizens to inform and explain the benefits and the nature of the agreements it concludes and legislation it passes. "