Resumen de The Dutch Referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: Legal Implications and Solutions

Guillaume Van der Loo

• This chapter will analyse the legal consequences of the outcome of the Dutch referendum of 6 April 2016 concerning the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The result of the referendum raised the question whether a single Member State can ‘veto’ the entry into force of a bilateral association agreement. Due to the unprecedented nature of this situation and the fact that the EU Treaties do no give a clear answer to this question, many issues related to the non-ratification of mixed agreements remain unclear. Therefore, after briefly analysing the ‘mixed’ nature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and its current legal status, the legal consequences of the Dutch ‘tegen’ (against) are explored, focussing on the provisional application of the agreement. Finally, the solution of the Dutch government to deal with the outcome of the referendum, and some alternatives, are discussed.