The parties committed to co-operate and converge economic policy, legislation, and regulation across a broad range of areas, including equal rights for workers, steps towards visa-free movement of people, the exchange of information and staff in the area of justice, the modernisation of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and access to the European Investment Bank.

[8] The Minister of Foreign Affairs published a decision in the Staatscourant on the same day, at which point the law became eligible for a referendum.

[9] Pending its entry into force, specific parts of the Agreement have been applied provisionally since 1 November 2014[10] and 1 January 2016 (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area).

[11] According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders, this concerns about 70% of the Agreement, covering exclusive competence of the European Union.

They deployed a web application to collect, print and deliver the signatures to the Dutch Electoral Council (Kiesraad).

[14] An appeal was lodged with the adjudicative division of the Council of State, challenging the use of the web application to collect the signatures.

[1] In response to parliamentary questions, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that he would await the course of the referendum and its result to decide how to move forward.

[16] A majority in the House of Representatives, with the exception of VVD and D66, subsequently declared that they would respect the outcome of the referendum if the turnout exceeded 30% even if it is not binding.

[21] According to Robert van Voren, proponents of the referendum were able to "accumulate four times the maximum campaign subsidy they were allowed to receive from the Dutch Government".

[22] Open Society Foundations, a non-profit organization led by American billionaire George Soros, announced to the NOS that it would spend €200,000 on a "yes" campaign.

[36][37][38] On 18 November 2016, Stichting KiezersOnderzoek Nederland, an independent academic organisation,[39] published a report on the referendum results, which had been anticipated by the Dutch Government.

[41] Rutte responded that if the turnout was above 30 percent with such a large margin of victory for the "No" camp, then his sense was that ratification could not simply go ahead.

Rutte said that it is good for the European Union and the Netherlands and not to be seen as a first step to Ukraine's EU membership, saying: "We are a trading nation.

We live by free trade agreements and Ukraine is another example of this [...] People who are inclined to vote No think it's a first step to EU membership.

"[44] Writing for the Kyiv Post, Jan Germen Janmaat and Taras Kuzio reported that the treaty's opponents were using "stereotypes, half-truths and demeaning propaganda" against Ukraine.

[44] Andreas Umland called the result of the referendum "a propaganda triumph for Putin", "a lasting embarrassment for the Dutch nation", and "a public humiliation of millions of Ukrainians who, during the last years, have been fighting both peacefully and, on eastern Ukrainian battlefields, with arms for their national liberation and European integration.

[49] According to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, "the true goal of the Dutch referendum [was] to attack Europe's unity".

[52] On 24 November 2016, it was announced that a ninety-day visa free period might eventually be granted for Ukrainian citizens with a biometric passport for the Schengen area.