Referendum in Luxembourg 2005 on the European Constitution

On July 10, 2005, a referendum took place in Luxembourg on the adoption of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , signed in 2004 by the representatives of the European Union . The agreement was accepted by a majority of the voters.

prehistory

The treaty was supported by all the major political parties in Luxembourg and could theoretically have been ratified simply by parliamentary resolution. On June 28, 2005, all 55 participating members of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously in first reading for the acceptance of the treaty. However, the Luxembourg government decided to hold a referendum because of the importance and scope of the treaty and to underline the democratic legitimacy of the conclusion of the treaty. The treaty was only to be re-submitted to the Chamber of Deputies in the second reading, which was then finally adopted and thus legally valid, once the majority of the Luxembourg voters had approved the draft treaty in a referendum. The Luxembourg referendum was preceded by the two referendums in France (on May 29, 2005) and in the Netherlands (on June 1, 2005), in which the majority of voters rejected the treaty. Nevertheless, the then Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker insisted that the vote take place in Luxembourg as planned and announced that he would step down if the voters reject the treaty.

poll

The following question was put to the 220,717 eligible voters:

"Are you in favor of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in Rome on October 29, 2004?"

- Question of the referendum of July 10, 2005

Results of the referendum by municipalities

The result of the vote was as follows:

answer	be right	percent
approval	109,494	56.52%
Rejection	84,221	43.48%
Valid votes	193,715	100%

199,609 votes were cast. The turnout was 90.4%. 193,715 (97.05%) ballots were valid, 5,894 (2.95%) were invalid. Overall, there was a majority in favor of accepting the contract. In a majority of the 118 Luxembourg municipalities, voters voted for adoption. There were more “no” than “yes” votes in the 9 municipalities listed in the following table. The majority of the municipalities were on the border with French Lorraine.

local community	Canton	Percent no votes
Esch-Sauer	Wiltz	58.16
Rumelings	Esch on the Alzette	56.48
Differdange	Esch on the Alzette	55.17
Esch on the Alzette	Esch on the Alzette	53.24
Pétange	Esch on the Alzette	52.89
Kayl	Esch on the Alzette	52.77
Sassenheim	Esch on the Alzette	52.67
Schifflingen	Esch on the Alzette	52.59
Befort	Echternach	50.65

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Chamber of Deputies votes in a first reading on the draft law on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, in the run-up to the referendum on July 10th, the day on which the opinion of the Luxembourg voters is asked. constitution-fir-europa.lu, June 29, 2005, accessed June 6, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Luxembourg rebuffs eurosceptics. BBC News, June 3, 2005, accessed June 15, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Eng Constitution for Europe. constitution-fir-europa.lu, July 8, 2005, accessed June 6, 2015 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Result of the referendum. constitution-fir-europa.lu, June 22, 2005, accessed June 6, 2015 (French). 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Le référendum sur le Traité établissant une Constitution pour l'Europe, Report élaboré pour la Chambre des Députés. (PDF) STADE - Études sociologiques et politiques sur le Luxembourg, University of Luxembourg , February 2007, accessed on June 6, 2015 (French).