Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands - St Antony's College ...

preface
preface
Some fifty years ago, the Netherlands was one of the countries which was
actively and wholeheartedly involved in the inception of what we know
today as the European Union. In the years since then, a great deal of energy
has been invested in building ‘Europe’; it has been an impressive project
which has achieved major results based on a deeply rooted acknowledgement
of common interests, mutual interdependencies and shared
destinies. The reward for those efforts has been reconciliation, peace,
human dignity, an internal market and rising prosperity for more and more
citizens.
The broadening and deepening of the European project have led to a shift
from what was initially a predominantly ‘diplomatic’ association towards
an increasingly ‘political’ Union. In the light of these changes major efforts
have been made, particularly in recent decades, to secure a more direct
legitimisation of Europe’s institutions. ‘Europe’ has developed into an
administrative and political system that is as complex as it is unique, and
which is interwoven in a complex fashion with national politics. On closer
reflection, this development has taken place largely as the preserve of
well-initiated diplomats, specialists, politicians and stakeholders.
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Until the ‘no’ vote in the European Constitutional referendum, this project
had been largely invisible for the citizens of the Netherlands. Where there
was visibility, this mainly concerned the growing amount of ‘sensitive’
issues such as the further enlargement of the internal market, the Services
Directive, the introduction of the euro and the negotiations with Turkey.
The system was also characterised by ‘perverse incentives’: positive results
were quickly sold to the public as national success stories, while negative
experiences could be laid without fear of contradiction at the doorstep of
an anonymous ‘Brussels bureaucracy’.
The research and analysis that is presented in this report of the Scientific
Council for Government Policy (one of the rare reports that the Council
has written upon request by the Dutch Government) suggests that the
rejection of the Constitutional Treaty can be explained to a large extent
from the fact that the unfolding politicisation of the European level has
not been adequately recognised or digested at the level of national political
institutions. This situation will have to change if a lasting legitimisation
of Europe in the Netherlands is to be achieved. The Council shows in this
report that national politicians, the media and civil-society organisations
all have a crucial role to play in this process. With this in mind, the Council