EUPopLink Country report - Netherlands.

Abstract

This country report, prepared as part of the EUPopLink COST Action, discusses populist Euroscepticism in Dutch party politics, as well as its limited consequences. Criticisms of the EU's functioning notwithstanding, mainstream parties as well as a large majority of Dutch citizens continue to support membership of the European Union. The salience of European integration as a campaign issue has generally been low. Two far-right parties have - in one case temporarily - taken 'hard Eurosceptic' positions, voicing support for a Dutch exit from the EU. Yet the report suggests that populist parties in the Netherlands have been characterised by an 'instrumental Euroscepticism' whereby the EU is brought up as a theme insofar as it is seen to help emphasise a political actor's message and underlying ideological agenda.