10-28-2009, 03:36 PM
How people view the EU is hard to say. I can speak generally of the Netherlands though.
History:
The Netherlands has always been a major trade country despite it's tiny size. It's our right of existence, more or less. By trading with many nations and keeping our education levels high (Knowledge economy), we've thrived. Because we've always been traders and still are (Schiphol and Rotterdam are prime European arteries for trade) we always adjusted ourselves to the customers. The average Dutchman knows one foreign language (English) and in trade it's common to know German, Spanish and/or French as well. In the past we've been very open to foreigners settling in. The Netherlands played a large role in creating the EU's predesessors and have always been one of it's core members. This earned the Netherlands and it's people a good reputation as 'tolerant' people who are a bit stingy where it comes to cash. (Going Dutch is quite normal here).
The Dilemma:
There has been a massive influx of foreigners the past decades. The "they're taking our jobs" sentiment has set in. Polish workers work for zilch compared to a Dutch employee. This is common for manual labor jobs, mostly. Construction, farming, etc. While the previous generation (primarily Turkish) immigrants were welcomed as hard working souls willing to do the dirty jobs, this turned completely around to racial hate among many. Fueled by problems of poor immigration (many refuse to adopt our customs or even language) and relatively high crime rates among immigrants, and tons and tons of bad press the public view of immigrants is very poor.
Then comes along Europe again, which was waaay in the background all that time. Europe nowadays is all about open borders. More immigrants. More temp job seekers ("stealers") but on the other side, more trade (and we do love our trade). The populace, however, soundly rejected the original European Constitution in a referendum. We were the only ones to do that along with France. This was part in the people's resentment against the current government snobbishly trying to force it on us in a "we know what's good for you" kind of way. Our government reeled at the rejection, being shamed and hurt dramatically in foreign policies. It's a blessing for them France also blocked the treaty, or the international outrage at the Netherlands would have been stiffling. A new round came along, teh treaty was drastically reduced in scope and this time the government didn't put out a referendum, which still sits wrongly with a good part of the populace. The government's dilemma was horrible. Do we put out a referendum and risk it being shot down again, in which case the EU would go into a major crisis, or just sign it without asking the people for consent, risking the people's ire. They chose the latter and the people's ire towards the government and the EU was risen indeed.
The Current situation:
People still resent the government. Current polls see the coalition in the government demolished, but they stubbornly refuse to have new elections, because that would see their power greatly diminished. In the meanwhile, the anti-muslim PVV is greatly gaining power and *shudder* is now the BIGGEST party in polls. It's sickening, really. But the PVV is a populist party and shouts and belches the people's language, often in rude, offensive ways that the coalition has no way of countering politely. This is not to say that about a fifth of the Dutch hates Islam, quite the contrary, but this fifth is so disgruntled with the current government that they vote for the 'anti-government'. That this group is anti-muslim they accept as a sacrifice. After all, they're not Muslim and muslim feoreigners are rated high in crime rates. So why not all blame it on the <strike>jews</strike> muslims?How quickly people forgot that this system doesn't work. The last years, this PVV is so dominating the media that the general populace hears nothing but about the "muslim problem" and how the EU is just going to make things worse by allowing Turkey to become a member nation.
So in the end, the Dutch don't really hate the EU. But out of ignorance and the current political climate, as well as a media-fed image that the EU is a powerless body that brings nothing but woe apart from Neelie Kroes and the European Human Rights court is shifting public view of the EU towards the negative.
History:
The Netherlands has always been a major trade country despite it's tiny size. It's our right of existence, more or less. By trading with many nations and keeping our education levels high (Knowledge economy), we've thrived. Because we've always been traders and still are (Schiphol and Rotterdam are prime European arteries for trade) we always adjusted ourselves to the customers. The average Dutchman knows one foreign language (English) and in trade it's common to know German, Spanish and/or French as well. In the past we've been very open to foreigners settling in. The Netherlands played a large role in creating the EU's predesessors and have always been one of it's core members. This earned the Netherlands and it's people a good reputation as 'tolerant' people who are a bit stingy where it comes to cash. (Going Dutch is quite normal here).
The Dilemma:
There has been a massive influx of foreigners the past decades. The "they're taking our jobs" sentiment has set in. Polish workers work for zilch compared to a Dutch employee. This is common for manual labor jobs, mostly. Construction, farming, etc. While the previous generation (primarily Turkish) immigrants were welcomed as hard working souls willing to do the dirty jobs, this turned completely around to racial hate among many. Fueled by problems of poor immigration (many refuse to adopt our customs or even language) and relatively high crime rates among immigrants, and tons and tons of bad press the public view of immigrants is very poor.
Then comes along Europe again, which was waaay in the background all that time. Europe nowadays is all about open borders. More immigrants. More temp job seekers ("stealers") but on the other side, more trade (and we do love our trade). The populace, however, soundly rejected the original European Constitution in a referendum. We were the only ones to do that along with France. This was part in the people's resentment against the current government snobbishly trying to force it on us in a "we know what's good for you" kind of way. Our government reeled at the rejection, being shamed and hurt dramatically in foreign policies. It's a blessing for them France also blocked the treaty, or the international outrage at the Netherlands would have been stiffling. A new round came along, teh treaty was drastically reduced in scope and this time the government didn't put out a referendum, which still sits wrongly with a good part of the populace. The government's dilemma was horrible. Do we put out a referendum and risk it being shot down again, in which case the EU would go into a major crisis, or just sign it without asking the people for consent, risking the people's ire. They chose the latter and the people's ire towards the government and the EU was risen indeed.
The Current situation:
People still resent the government. Current polls see the coalition in the government demolished, but they stubbornly refuse to have new elections, because that would see their power greatly diminished. In the meanwhile, the anti-muslim PVV is greatly gaining power and *shudder* is now the BIGGEST party in polls. It's sickening, really. But the PVV is a populist party and shouts and belches the people's language, often in rude, offensive ways that the coalition has no way of countering politely. This is not to say that about a fifth of the Dutch hates Islam, quite the contrary, but this fifth is so disgruntled with the current government that they vote for the 'anti-government'. That this group is anti-muslim they accept as a sacrifice. After all, they're not Muslim and muslim feoreigners are rated high in crime rates. So why not all blame it on the <strike>jews</strike> muslims?How quickly people forgot that this system doesn't work. The last years, this PVV is so dominating the media that the general populace hears nothing but about the "muslim problem" and how the EU is just going to make things worse by allowing Turkey to become a member nation.
So in the end, the Dutch don't really hate the EU. But out of ignorance and the current political climate, as well as a media-fed image that the EU is a powerless body that brings nothing but woe apart from Neelie Kroes and the European Human Rights court is shifting public view of the EU towards the negative.
Former www.diablo2.com webmaster.
When in deadly danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
When in deadly danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.