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In France there was a referendum about the EU, with the No winning. Then 2-3 years later Sarkozy, the president at the time, said sod it, I'm signing what the p
by baud147258 9y ago
In France there was a referendum about the EU, with the No winning. Then 2-3 years later Sarkozy, the president at the time, said sod it, I'm signing what the people of France has refused back then.
- candiodari 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_related_to_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_related_to_the_Eur... Note that most referenda, according to the rules, required approval in all member states. Note how there's essentially 3 cases : * a few member states voted, but much fewer than there actually are * a few member states vote, and after one defeat, suddenly the votes stop * a vote fails, and then the vote question is changed, and another vote organised on the same issue (ie. redo elections until desired result is achieved. Note that there is always much lower turnout the second and third time) In the vast majority of cases the will of voters was overturned and the EU forced on people. There is one big exception: Switzerland, where generally the results of referenda have been upheld. Needless to say, as a result, Switzerland is not a member state. If the voters will was respected, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Spain would not be member states. Many evolutions in the EU would also not have happened, like the EU constitution. Recently French president Macron surprised by stating publicly on UK radio that if a referendum on EU membership would be held in France today, he was fairly certain the answer would be that voters would want to leave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlHfNiZf-9o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlHfNiZf-9o I feel like that message understated things. If you listen, you can clearly hear that Macron matter-of-fact stated that the UK will remain despite the vote.