Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende reacts at the result of the Dutch referendum on the European Union's first constitution.(AFP)

Slow economic growth in the Netherlands is seen as a key reason for Wednesday's massive rejection of the European Union constitution, with "no" voters listing gripes such as the high value of the euro, the cost of EU membership and possible job losses to immigrant labour.

Last year the Dutch center-right government, led by the Christian Democrat prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, announced extremely unpopular austerity measures to raise tax revenues and cut spending to improve public finances.

At a time when the Dutch are asked to tighten their belts, the fact that the country has gone from being a net receiver from its membership in the EU to becoming the biggest net contributor is not sitting well with many voters.

"The most important reason for voters to reject the EU's constitution treaty was the belief that the Netherlands pays way too much for EU membership," progressive Christian newspaper Trouw said in an analysis Thursday.

Some 62 percent of "no" voters named the high Dutch contribution to the EU budget as a reason to reject the treaty, according to a poll conducted Wednesday.

Even though the Dutch government won praise in Brussels for wrestling down its deficit to comply with EU budget rules, voters could not stomach that France and Germany had flaunted those very same rules and got away with it when EU members earlier this year agreed to water down their 1997 Stability and Growth Pact.

"People do not want to pay money to Europe that we could put to better use in the Netherlands for care of the elderly or security measures, for instance," far-right member of parliament Geert Wilders, a prominent "no" campaigner, summed up the mood Thursday in a parliamentary debat.

Ahead of the debate Balkenende insisted that the discussion on the Dutch contribution to the EU should be reserved for an EU meeting on the overall budget for the period 2007 to 2013.

"This is a different discussion that is separate from the constitution," he said.

Gripes over the euro also played an important role for many "no" voters, according to several polls.

At the beginning of the referendum campaign, voters were shaken when the head of the central bank admitted that the country's former currency, the guilder, had been undervalued compared with the German mark just before the switch to the euro.

This backed up long-held consumer charges that the move to the European common currency had led to massive price hikes.

"The euro is bad for us. The Netherlands pays through the nose for the EU while Spain is still receiving money," lab technician Rene Moors told AFP ahead of the vote.

Anti-immigrant sentiment was also closely linked to the economic situation in the Netherlands.

The Dutch economy grew only 1.4 percent in 2004 and employment dropped by 1.7 percent, the largest drop in over 20 years, according to the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics. Despite this gloomy picture the Netherlands still has one of the lowest unemployement rates in Europe, at 6.9 percent.

In this climate many Dutch fear they may lose their job. The prospect of a huge influx of often cheaper immigrant labour, as conjured up by far-right campaigners in the "no" camp, tapped into basic fears.

"The Dutch have the idea that everything that is not Dutch threatens their identity," Sophie Vanhoonacker, director of Maastricht University's European Studies program, said.

"The Dutch worry the eastern Europeans will come 'to steal our jobs'. They fear the loss of employment and prosperity," she explains. 

(Agencies)

austerity: a situation, esp. one resulting from an intentional government plan in which there is little money for spending on comfort and enjoyment.（經濟緊縮，節約）

referendum: a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate（公民投票）