That date is one of several which must be set by regulations and are hugely important for all those who want to plan their activities in advance of the referendum.

The announcement also drew attention the publication by the government of a statutory report setting out the results of its negotiations with other EU members on the reform of the UK's relationship with the EU.

The date for the referendum

As required under the EU Referendum Act, the date of 23 June has been put before Parliament in the draft European Union Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations 2016 (the 'Draft Regulations'). The Draft Regulations will be debated and approved under the affirmative resolution procedure.

Although the proposed date is likely to be accepted, the government will not necessarily get an easy ride in Parliament. On 9 February, the Democratic Unionist Party led an Opposition Day debate in the House of Commons on the timing of the referendum and the government's early rumblings regarding a date in June. The debate followed a letter sent by the First Ministers of each of the devolved administrations in which they argued against a referendum in June on the basis that it would distract voters from the elections to those administrations which will be held on 5 May 2016.

In response to that letter the Prime Minister denied that voters would suffer from any confusion over the issues but did confirm that the government would not propose a date for the referendum which fell less than six weeks after the elections on 5 May.

That position was hotly debated on the back of the DUP's motion with MPs pointing to the possible effects of overlapping purdah periods for the elections and the referendum, as well as the fact that some parties competing in the elections will wish to work together in campaigning for the referendum.

The government stuck to its line that 'the electorate can both walk and chew gum' at the same time and the motion - which urged the government to respect the views expressed on the timing of the referendum by the devolved administration - was defeated by a significant majority.

The DUP's debate can be seen as a rehearsal of the issues that will be raised in the debate on the regulations setting the date for the referendum and the result is very likely to be the same.

The referendum period

Along with the date for the referendum the Draft Regulations also set two important timeframes which will be the subject of debate in Parliament.

The first is the referendum period, which is the period during which campaigning activities are regulated by the Electoral Commission ('the Commission').

Those who wish to campaign for one outcome or another are permitted to spend up to £10,000 on certain campaign activities during the referendum period without registering with the Commission. Campaigners therefore need to know how long the referendum period is so that they can consider whether or not they will need to register given their projected rate of spending.

Under the EU Referendum Act the referendum period must be at least 10 weeks ending with the date of the poll. The government has adopted a minimalist approach (as it was expected to do) and under the Draft Regulations the referendum period will begin on 15 April.

Designation of lead campaigners

The other important timeframe in the Draft Regulations relates to the designation of lead campaigners.

A campaigner registered with the Commission may apply to it for designation as a lead campaigner. There can only be one designated campaigner for each outcome in the referendum - although in theory the Commission could designate a lead campaigner for one side only - and the organisation designated has access to grant funding, increased spending limits during the referendum period and advertising on television.

There is unlikely to be any contest on the 'remain' side, with the main cross-party group - Britain Stronger in Europe - having no significant rivals for designation.

However, the same cannot be said for the 'leave' side. The Vote Leave campaign is headed by Lord Lawson, with Dominic Cummings as its main strategist. It has the support of several cabinet ministers as well as Boris Johnson and Labour Leave. The other group in the running to lead the leave camp is the GO Movement. This is an umbrella group which brings together the relatively new cross-party Grassroots Out group and Leave.EU - the group founded by UKIP donor Arron Banks which has the backing of Conservative MPs Peter Bone and Tom Pursglove, as well as Respect MP George Galloway.

The Commission will be required to choose between the rival leave groups on the basis of a range of criteria including their level of cross-party support, campaign tactics and organisational capacity.

The process by which the Commission designates lead campaigners is set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 ('the PPERA'), as amended by the EU Referendum Act.

Under the EU Referendum Act, regulations set by the government will determine the date from which campaigners may apply for designation, the time period in which applications will be accepted, and the date by which the Commission must make its decisions on designation.

The Draft Regulations state that applications for designation may be made from 4 March.

Applicants will have 28 days to lodge their applications with the Commission, which will then be required to make its decisions within 14 days of the closure of the application window. This will mean that lead campaigners will be designated by 15 April, the day on which the referendum period begins.

The Draft Regulations thus assuage fears that the timeframe for designation would run concurrently with the referendum period, a possibility which led to considerable adverse comment as it would have potentially shortened the time during which lead campaigners are able to mount their campaigns.

Although it avoids such a scenario, the date means that other campaigners may not know who the lead campaigners will be until the beginning of the referendum period. This has the potential to affect the activities of other campaigners as there are instances in which spending on activities undertaken with a lead campaign group will not count towards the cost caps for registration with the Commission and on spending in the referendum period once registered.

A more generous approach was taken with respect to the Scottish Independence Referendum under which lead campaigners were designated just less than five months before polling day. However, with the referendum being held on 23 June, the opening of applications for designation could not realistically be pushed back to an earlier date given the need for the Draft Regulations to pass through Parliament under the affirmative resolution procedure.

Key publications

Under the EU Referendum Act the government is required to publish certain information in the lead-up to the referendum.

The first of those publications, which is now available, is a report setting out the outcome of the UK's negotiations regarding reform of the EU should the UK choose to remain a part of it and the government's opinion on that outcome.

The government is also required to publish a report setting out the UK's rights and obligations as a member of the EU, as well as examples of arrangements that non-EU member states have with the EU. That report must be published at least 10 weeks before the date of the referendum, so we can expect it by 15 April.

The Commission has also begun to publish its guidance for campaigners in the referendum and has thus far issued guidance on:

  • campaigning and registering with the Commission,
  • the designation process for lead campaigners,
  • donations to campaigners and permissible donors, and
  • loans for campaigners.

Additional detailed guidance on campaign spending and publications by public bodies in the lead-up to the referendum will be published in the near future.

Next steps

The Draft Regulations are scheduled for debate in the Commons on 29 February and in the Lords on 2 March. It is almost certain that they will be passed by Parliament.

Prospective campaigners should begin considering now whether they will need to register with the Commission on the basis of their projected spending during a 10 week referendum period beginning on 15 April. For those who do register, the Draft Regulations sets a series of dates for reports that campaigners must provide to the Commission on donations and loans.

Campaigners will also need to be aware that we are currently in the middle of the regulated period with respect to the elections taking place on 5 May, and this carries its own rules around non-party campaigning rules in relation to those elections. This is particularly important if any campaigning on the EU referendum could reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters to vote for or against particular political parties or categories of candidates who have a particular stance on the UK's continued membership of the EU.