Dutch vote in referendum against EU-Ukraine trade deal

The Dutch people voted overnight in a referendum to reject the lifting of trade restrictions between the European Union and Ukraine, in what some observers said might add fuel to the debate around the inner workings of the bloc of countries.

Nonetheless, it remained to be seen if the vote had garnered the required 30.0% turnout for the results to be considered valid under Dutch laws.

Furthermore, the possibility existed that the vote results were more a reflection of public opinion regarding the EU and not about the merits of the question at hand.

With 99.8% of the votes tallied, 61.1% had cast their ballots for the 'no' camp versus the 38.0% who said they approved of the agreement.

The referendum was triggered by an internet petition submitted by eurosceptic activists, after it obtained the pre-requisite 450,000 signatures necessary under Dutch law for it to go ahead, although the deal had already been approved by the country's parliament.

While the result of the vote was not legally binding, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said: "we will have to wait and see but it is clear that the 'No' voters won convincingly. The question is whether or not the required turnout will be met."

Exit polls initially indicated that the turnout had reached 29.0%, but that figure was later updated to 32.0% with a margin of error of 3.0%.

"Under the vote rules [the referendum results mean] it will be very difficult for Dutch leaders and by implication, EU leaders to ignore it.

"That doesn’t mean they won’t try as the EU has form in this area," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"As it is the outcome of yesterday’s vote is likely to give a significant boost to the “Brexit” campaign here in the UK, and in that context the EU’s response to it will need to be very carefully managed lest more fire is poured on the flames of populism, which is rippling out through Europe."