EU CONSTITUTION: Dutch supporters of the European constitution have criticised a lacklustre government Yes campaign, which is in stark contrast to France's heated debate, although the Netherlands votes just three days later.
Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende's centre-right cabinet has been accused of complacency for assuming the Yes camp will win in the referendum on June 1st.
Most independent polls put the No camp ahead although many Dutch are undecided and several surveys forecast a low turnout. Analysts predict apathy, especially since the referendum, the country's first, is not binding.
During a visit to the Netherlands yesterday Margot Wallstrom, the EU commissioner responsible for the commission's public relations, warned those campaigning for a Yes vote to avoid scaremongering.
Responding to comments by Dutch justice minister Piet Hein Donner, who warned a No vote could lead to serious instability in Europe, Ms Wallstrom said: "We have to be really careful about painting some kind of a catastrophe scenario. Scare-mongering is not very effective."
The latest poll in France contained further grim news for the Yes camp last night. The No camp jumped to 58 per cent, the highest level of opposition so far in the campaign.
The BVA survey for news magazine L'Express showed that only 42 per cent of voters plan to back the treaty on May 29th, with 29 per cent still undecided.
The Dutch government, which until earlier this month was distracted by a cabinet crisis that almost toppled Mr Balkenende's three-way coalition, consoled itself with its own poll this week that put the Yes camp ahead.
But it admitted the No camp had gained ground since its last survey in March.
Traditionally strong support for the European Union in the Netherlands has waned due to the unpopular euro, concerns about a loss of sovereignty and control over issues like immigration and resentment that the country pays so much to the bloc's budget.
Jozias van Aartsen, parliamentary leader of the liberal VVD, said the silence of the Dutch debate had been deafening. He warned of the consequences of a No vote: "Other member states could present us as a country that increasingly cuts itself off, like a hermit."
Frans Timmermans of the opposition Labour Party agreed: "French bookshops are full of pamphlets with reasons for Yes and reasons for No. Here the debate is simply lacking. I find it hard to understand the absence of the cabinet in the campaign up until now."