The Netherlands was one of the six original founders of the European Union. We, the Dutch, have always been internationally orientated, progressive, tolerant and open, and as a nation and a people, we still are. But our attitude towards the centralistic, expansionist, and undemocratic EU has become increasingly sceptical. For us, the EU no longer represents a dynamic view of the future but – on the contrary – many feel that it has fallen victim to precisely the kind of static, special interests politics that it was meant to transcend. It has turned out to be a 1970s solution for a 1950s problem.
It was hardly surprising, then, that two thirds of the Dutch population said ‘No’ to the proposed European Constitution in 2005. Open borders and the Euro have long lost the support of the majority of the population. And two weeks ago, on 6 April, when another referendum gave Dutch citizens an opportunity to express their views on the EU, an overwhelming majority once again said ‘No’.
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