THE HAGUE, 10/06/06 - The Netherlands no longer wants to be seen as the negative member within the EU. The government will try to convey this message to the other EU members. The Lower House appears to support this constructive position.
A year of reflection after the Dutch rejection of the European Constitution has provided perspective, said Foreign Minister Ben Bot. "Scepticism has changed to a clear view for 2009 when the time comes to set up a legal framework to supplement the old Treaty of Nice". Meanwhile, it will be a matter of working on a concrete Europe with the defeated Constitution as inspiration, but without neglecting contact with citizens, Bot said in the Lower House.
During the debate, Bot even heard Eurosceptics like MP AndrÈ Rouvoet (ChristenUnie) tell him "not to be too spastic about future treaty changes" necessary to keep the EU manageable. Along with leftwing Green (GroenLinks) MP Farah Karimi, Rouvoet urged a businesslike approach to adapting the Treaty of Nice. Most parties agree the treaty offers insufficient possibilities for building for the future, especially after the EU's recent enlargement.
Rouvoet also considered it time to show more leadership again, from the side of the government, but also from the side of parliament. "We cannot just stick at listening to the citizen." The Dutch rejected the constitution in last year's referendum.
Apart from this, Bot once again emphasised he was against the centre-left D66 party's desire to organise a new referendum if a treaty change is proposed again in 2009. According to the minister, the material is much too complex for a plebiscite. Additionally, he considers it wrong that a single country can steer the fate of the entire EU via a referendum. "It is better to leave that judgement to the elected representatives, or to organise a single European referendum."
Bot did not succeed in convincing his own Christian democratic (CDA) party not to go overboard in thwarting negotiations on Turkey's accession if this country does not wish to ratify the revised customs union in time. Its ratification is construed by the EU as an implicit recognition of the Republic of Cyprus, with which Turkey has great difficulty.
The CDA considers that if the Turkish parliament has not ratified the protocol by 1 January 2007, accession negotiations should be suspended completely. Bot would prefer to keep his hands free and await the European Commission's recommendations in the autumn. He does not rule out the commission only wishing to move to partial suspension of the negotiations in case Turkey still fails to ratify.
