McDowell: Dutch 'No' would 'create a new situation'

The Minister for Justice has indicated that if a 'No' vote is passed in the Dutch referendum, it would have serious implications for Europe.

Polling stations in the Netherlands have been open since this morning for the second referendum on the treaty in three days.

France has already rejected it and early polls in Holland showed that the opposition has a 60% majority.

Minister McDowell said earlier today that he did not want to pre-empt the Dutch outcome, but he added: “If however the decision is negative it clearly creates a new situation which the rest of the heads of state of the European Union would have to consider very carefully.”