The cabinet wants to make a decision on whether or not to hold a referendum on the new European Union treaty as soon as possible and hopes that the Council of State will have its recommendations ready before parliament returns in September, reports the Volkskrant.

The referendum issue has seriously divided political parties, says the paper.
European affairs minister Frans Timmermans believes the Council of State, the government’s highest advisory body, needs six weeks to decide whether a referendum is justified. A spokeswoman told the paper the Council has a three month maximum time frame for bringing out advice.
The cabinet believes that, unlike the EU treaty on the table two years ago, the new agreement does not propose constitutional changes. But the opposition dispute this saying that the new treaty would transfer fundamental powers to Brussels. The Dutch rejected the EU constitution in a referendum two years ago.