The European Referendum Campaign (ERC) is an independent, Europe-wide, cross party network of NGOs and individuals which brings together campaigners to fight for democratic development within the European Union.[1] Its sole objective is to gains as many referendums on the new EU Lisbon Treaty in as many EU member states as possible. The ERC is hosted by the NGO Democracy International who also created the European Citizens' Initiative.[2] The ERC cooperates with the European political party EUDemocrats - Alliance for a Europe of Democracies.
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The European Referendum Campaign began in 2002 where it focused on obtaining referendums on the European Constitution. The ERC lobbied the Convention on the Future of Europe to produce something that would be understood by the people, and regardless of the outcome of the convention, put the product to a referendum.[3]
By 2003 the campaign began to gather momentum the European Referendum Campaign joined forces with Referendum04, Vote 2004 and Trust the People, as well as many other campaigns fighting for referendums across Europe.[4] By the end, the campaign was supported by 293 organisations from across Europe as well as 97 members of the Convention on the Future of Europe who drew up the original constitution.[5]
It was the ERC team in the Netherlands who lobbied for a referendum there. The law to pass the referendum was drafted by a member of the ERC team, Niesco Dubbelboer, who was a Dutch MP at the time. It finished in 2004.
The ERC has now reformed to fight for referendums on the new EU Lisbon Treaty.[6] The ERC believes that the new treaty is the same as the previous European Constitution[7] and that the treaty contains fundamental changes to the framework of the EU. Therefore the consent of citizens is needed in order to legitimise treaty. The ERC does not hold a position on the treaty itself and whether or not it should be enforced. The ERC campaigns only against the undemocratic ratification process.[8]
Many believe that the Lisbon Treaty is different from the constitution and it does not require a plebiscite. It is also believed that holding a vote on the treaty would be detrimental to the progress of the European Union.[9] It has been argued that the treaty is far too complex for ordinary people to vote on. They do not have the expertise necessary to make a decision on whether or not the treaty is valid. This is why people elect and pay politicians so that they can make these decisions on behalf of the people they are meant to represent. Another common criticism of referendums on the EU is that the public rarely vote on Europe and instead they vote on domestic issues, as was the case in the French or Dutch referendum on the treaty. Countries could also face international political problems if the referendum returns a negative result.[10] The Lisbon Treaty is now in effect so this page is defunct. It came into effect on 1 December 2009. There is now a new group called The EU Referendum Campaign that is calling for a national referendum on Britain's relationship with the EU