AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – While EU negotiations on a coronavirus recovery fund and a new budget for the bloc were at a dead end, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte was singled out by an Eastern leader weekend as the “man responsible for the whole mess”.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives at the first EU summit face-to-face since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Brussels, Belgium, on July 19, 2020. John Thys / Pool via REUTERS
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused him of that, while Spanish and Italian diplomats called him “Mr. No no no!”
Defending not spending money on European projects requires rejection, and Rutte has taken the role with calculated determination as leader of a group of smaller “frugal” nations.
While he may cut a less colorful figure than Margaret Thatcher a generation ago, Rutte’s willingness to put on the cloak of parsimony after Britain’s departure from the EU is solidly based on public opinion and politics in the country.
The Dutch, who support the EU membership by a two-thirds majority, take pride in both its history as a trading nation and its traditional Calvinist savings.
Dutch taxpayers are aware that they are proportionally among the largest contributors to the EU budget, and the idea of giving or lending more is unpopular.
The nickname “Mr. No” derives from an April video, frequently retweeted, which shows a Dutch garbage collector yelling at Rutte not to give money to “those Italians and French.”
“Oh, no, no, no.” Rutte replied. “I will remember this.”
Critics say the Dutch reluctance to spend is now misplaced, given the country’s large trade surplus with the rest of the EU. Unicredit economist Erik Nielsen argued in a note Sunday that the net contribution of the € 2.4bn Dutch budget for 2018 “tells only a small part of the actual financial history.”
“According to the Tax Justice Network, that same year, the tax haven structures in the Netherlands helped them collect 6.7 billion euros in tax receipts from Germany, France, Italy and Spain,” he wrote.
But conversations in the Netherlands focus more often on whether Dutch prosperity is the result of a stronger work ethic and whether it’s fair to share funds with countries that have a lower retirement age.
Domestic policy also plays an important role. With national elections looming in March, Rutte’s conservative VVD Party must compete with far-right parties for voters most likely to be skeptical of the euro.
Furthermore, its current center-right coalition lacks a majority in parliament. Any compromise reached in Brussels now that goes too far in the eyes of the Dutch may not be ratified later in The Hague.
This rejection occurred in 2005 and again, to an agreement that Rutte had agreed to, in 2016.
Toby Sterling’s Reports; Edited by Frances Kerry
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