Senay Boztas

The rise of Dutch Euroscepticism

ARIS OIKONOMOU/AFP via Getty Images

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has taken on the mantle of ‘Dr No’ across the capitals of Europe after he took a tough stance on the EU’s coronavirus bailout fund. But in the Netherlands, most people supported his stance on EU integration.

At the talks, Rutte successfully led the ‘frugal five’ countries – the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland – in their battle to reduce the EU’s proposed coronavirus subsidies from €500 billion to €390 billion (£450 to £350 billion). The countries also ensured an economic conditions brake was attached to another €310 billion (£280 billion) in loans, which are expected to go mostly to Italy and Spain.

It was a tense set of talks in Brussels, with threatened walkouts, late nights and, for the first time in decades, no Britain fighting in the Netherlands’s corner. In fact, some wondered if the three-times Dutch Prime Minister was becoming ‘a new Thatcher’ in the UK’s absence. The Italian media dubbed him ‘Dr Superstrict’, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he thought Rutte ‘hated’ him and French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly compared him to David Cameron (by pointing out that Cameron came to a sticky political end).

The UK and the Netherlands have traditionally been liberal allies in European negotiations, leading to mournful Dutch headlines like ‘Don’t leave me this way’ after the Brexit referendum in 2016.

But Rutte has a keen eye on domestic politics when he rallies against EU spending. At the moment, he has no majority in either house of the Binnenhof, his coalition government is made up of four parties, he has rivals on the far right and an economy that has gone from prosperous to severely troubled just before the 2021 general election.

The Netherlands has always felt suspicious of further political integration

According to a poll last weekend by Peil.nl, his attempt to play hardball with the European Union worked: 51 per cent of the Dutch thought Rutte did a good job in Europe, and slightly more people were positive (36 per cent) than negative (34 per cent) about the Dutch deal, which included a €1.92

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