Nederland weigert uitslag EP-verkiezingsresultaten met vertraging te publiceren (en)
Auteur: | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER/ BRUSSELS (7 June) - Although partial European election results will be available from Thursday 10 June, the European Parliament will only publish these three days later - in order to avoid a legal conflict with the European Commission.
Partial results from the Netherlands - counting 95 percent of the final votes - will already be available on 10 June, but the European Election Law prohibits the Parliament secretariat from publishing these before the last ballot has closed in the EU - on 13 June at 22.00.
"We have to be careful", said a Parliament official. "There are legal reasons for that".
The Commission claims that the European Elections Act of 1976 obliges member states to keep their election results under embargo until the last country in the EU has closed the polls.
The same rule now prohibits the Parliament from publishing these results immediately on its website or on Parliament-headed paper.
The Parliament will only inform journalists on the counted figures orally, or by means of unofficial papers without the Parliament logo, Parliament officials announced.
Stubborn Dutch
Despite new pressure from the European Commission, the Dutch authorities are still unwilling to keep their results under embargo until the 13th.
Local authorities in the Netherlands will release their preliminary results immediately after the vote on 10 June.
A spokesman for the Dutch Interior Ministry confirmed to the EUobserver that they received a new letter today (7 June) from the Commission, urging them not to publish any partial results in advance.
The European Commission said last week that the Netherlands may face court action if it releases its election results before the last votes are in on 13 June.
But the Dutch are still unwilling to bow to the pressure.
"Transparency with regard to election results is a tradition in the Netherlands", the spokesman said.
The embargo is meant to prevent the results in one country influencing those in another.