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THE NETHERLANDS HAS long been a source of inspiration for closer European integration — and a bellwether of European discontent.
It was one of six nations that forged fledgling European unity from the ashes of World War II, and a force behind the treaty that created the euro currency. Yet, along with France, it also put itself at the vanguard of the euro-skeptic tide by rejecting a proposed European constitution in a referendum.
As the nation heads into elections on Wednesday, observers are wondering which of the two Netherlands will emerge: the EU guiding light or the harbinger of European disarray.
The answer could be an indication of the very direction of Europe.
The European mood
“Every Dutch election has been at the forefront of what is the mood everywhere in Europe,” says political analyst Piotr Maciej Kaczynski of the Center for European Policy studies.
In 2005, Dutch voters deepened a major continental crisis by rejecting a historic EU constitution just three days after the French gave their historic “Non” — effectively killing the charter. In the upcoming elections, the Dutch are pondering even greater existential questions for Europe — whether to stick with the union and its currency or try to fix both from the inside.
Not surprisingly, the most extreme view — ditch the European Union — comes from firebrand populist Geert Wilders, who first rose to prominence with strident anti-Islam rhetoric that resonated across Europe. At the other end of the spectrum is outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte, a staunch believer in EU integration who also hews closely to the hardline budgetary conservatism of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In between are a slew of euro-skeptic parties that are also nonetheless conscious of the bloc’s importance to the Netherlands, a nation whose economy is built on exports.
‘A more social Europe’
The leader of one such party is Emile Roemer, who heads the left-wing Socialists. His campaign symbol is the tomato, after the rotten fruit his supporters feel to be the just desserts of the EU-loving political establishment.
Roemer gained fame during the campaign by saying that, if he joins the next Dutch ruling coalition, the Netherland would pay fines to Brussels for missing budget targets “over my dead body.” At a recent campaign stop in his home town of Boxmeer, a verdant town in eastern Netherlands close to the German border, Roemer handed out tomato-flavored ice cream and said he wants “a more social Europe.”
His Socialists polled strongly throughout summer campaigning, before falling back to third place in a complicated race that will likely lead to long negotiations to form the next ruling coalition.
Labor Party leader Diederik Samsom, whose criticism of the EU is more moderate, has now taken over from Roemer as the torch bearer for the left going into Wednesday’s vote.
There is nothing moderate about Wilders, who argues that Europe has turned into a costly charity project for his country. He says that wealthy northern European nations like the Netherlands and Germany have spent billions bailing out debt-ridden governments in Greece and Portugal, which he casts as profligate beyond reform.
“The best days of the Netherlands are ahead of us if we no longer pay southern Europe, if we become a master of our own house, and are able to take our own decisions again,” he said during a high-profile televised debate at Amsterdam’s Carre theater.
Fluctuating polls
Polls have been fluctuating over the past months, and the latest indicate that Wilders could lose up to a fourth of the 24 seats he won at the last Dutch election in 2010. Rutte’s party tops polls, with Samsom’s Labor trailing close behind.
The Netherlands and an expanding EU were long a perfect match for this centuries-old trading nation.
In the wake of World War II and ensuing hunger, Sicco Mansholt, a Dutch farmer who became the fourth president of the European commission, formed a vision of a united Europe in which nations would work together to stave off famine. He was the architect of a common European farm policy that eventually evolved into deeper economic union.
The Dutch government also was one of the driving forces behind the 1993 treaty that ushered in monetary union and, eventually, the euro currency. The treaty was signed in the picturesque southern Dutch city of Maastricht and still bears its name.
But the 2005 “No” vote on the EU constitution and anti-EU resentments that have deepened ever since show the Netherlands now to be possibly at the forefront of a continental tipping point.
Certainly, the generosity that once accompanied the EU’s expansion into poorer nations has largely evaporated.
And the way the Dutch vote on Wednesday will be parsed for potential insights into the outcome of elections next year in a much more important rich northern European country: Germany.
“This is the prelude before the huge elections we will have next year in Germany,” Kaczynski said.
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A million is too much to get accurate figures on sexual violence affecting Irish citizens? But 5 million on PR is just fine?
Is Mary Lou really saying she would rather invest a million in research than services? How many reports are there now gathering dust?
@lavbeer: it’s not either/or, we can do both. The SAVI report never gathered dust anyway, it has been used extensively by all agencies working to combat child sexual abuse. 1 million is a drop in the ocean compared to the billion the State has had to pay to the victims of institutional child abuse. A small spend now will go a long way to saving money down the line
Perhaps im just jaded…..but this seems like a political stunt to bring the female vote back for Leo…….after hes put his foot in it a couple of times on the repeal issue….
@Dearbhla Russell: DRCC and other groups have been seeking that SAVI be updated but Minister for Justice resisted.
In light of recent developments, including Tom Humphries, accurate measurement is seen as now required. There may well be political expedience at play but SAVI update is needed.
And if they could get back to him in a year or two that would be fine
Look at that Muslim Brotherhood supporter beside him in the photo. Wonder what their views on sexual violence are? Oh! I know. They approve and recommend it.
It is not a question of either €1 million on an update on SAVI 1 or spending this on vital services. It is not either/or. It is both/and.
An update on SAVI 1, a reasonably measurement of the problem, can guide in whether an increase in the allocation to support services is required, how and where funding should be allocated, how best to reduce the problem of sexual violence in Ireland and to better guide criminological policy in this area.
We need to do far more as a society to prevent sexual violence in Ireland and to support the unfortunate past and present victims of sexual violence in Ireland.
Prevent, address and try to rectify. First, gain an accurate measurement of causes, extreme, impacts and critically assess current reporting, detection, protection, sentencing, preventative and restorative measurements.
The experts in this area, including the DRCC and various criminologists, have all advised of the urgent need for an update to SAVI 1. Now is the time to get on with it.
The country needs updating with a better honest leader!
SAVI 1 needs to be updated so as to measure the estimated size of the problem. Many victims never report sexual violence offences to An Garda Siochana. There are reasons for this. Addressing a problem depends on accurate measurement of the true extent of the problem at present.
Your grammar needs TO BE UPDATED.
The SAVI Report and it’s methodology have been totally discredited, which is why it has never been revisited in all this time – untill now of course.
It was based upon the European FRA Report and the technique pioneered by Mary Koss, a feminist researcher who felt that official government unbiased reports didn’t provided the results she wanted so she set up her own surveys designed to adjust the figures to provide statastics more suitable to her ideology. She admitted in 1992 she surveys were flawed.
White Ribbon campaigns in several other countries have been totally discredited for several reasons with the governments of Canada and Australia noticing that they were being used to funnel the vast majority of money into salaries.
The SAVI report used a similar methodology and showed that 42% of Irish women and 28% of Irish men reported some form of sexual abuse. Almost a third of women and one in five men experienced sexual abuse in childhood with more than a quarter of women and one in ten of men experiencing it in adulthood.
This research has been based upong the idea that women and men don’t know what things like ‘stalking’, ‘violence’ and ‘rape’ mean and need a feminist expert to interpret for them and fill out the forms.
The SAVI Report – 2001 – contains the word ‘ABUSE’ one thousand six hundred and one times (1601). Is that not enough? Do you need an update, when you don’t even believe or act on official findings and data !
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