Foreign Policy

The Netherlands ratified EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

31.05.2017
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ICPS Press

The point of view inside the Netherlands - Michelle de Clercq: 

Yesterday the Dutch senate voted in favor of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Now that the upper house backs the decision of the lower house, all EU members agree and the ratification of the agreement is almost becoming a reality. Does the approval of both houses of parliament mean that the Dutch reluctance towards the EU-Ukraine association agreement has disappeared?

In April 2016 a substantial majority (60 percent) of Dutch voters rejected the Association Agreement in an advisory referendum. The electoral outcome however can be nuanced, as people might have intentionally abstained from voting. Until the last moment it was unclear if the turn-up threshold of 30 percent would be reached which was needed to give the outcome of the referendum any importance at all. In then end the minimum was just met with 32 percent.

The average person in the Netherlands has little knowledge of Ukraine and the struggle people went through to make the Association Agreement possible. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that lack of information is not the only reason causing skepticism towards the Ukraine and the Association Agreement. 

The Dutch referendum was campaigned for and initiated by a popular Internet media site unique in its sort. It is called Geenstijl, which literally means "no class” and characterizes itself through ruthlessness, Dutch directness and provoking questioning methods. The platform mostly appeals to right-winged voters who are more likely to sympathize with Eurosceptic feelings. As the initiators of the referendum might have had a minor effect on the electoral outcome, there are three main reasons why the referendum was initiated and the agreement was later rejected. 

The first is that the referendum was seen as a means to express Eurosceptic feelings that are seen in many EU member states at the moment. It is important to remember that the Dutch referendum was held before the Brexit referendum and therefore had a more symbolic function to reveal the discomfort people feel over the decision making process of the EU. The second reason that was mentioned by the referendum campaigners was corruption. The question was raised whether EU cooperation was favorable due to the high level of corruption in Ukraine (131 on the corruption perception index in 2016, after Mali and Sierra Leone). The final reason was that the Association Agreement was seen as a harbinger towards Ukrainian EU membership.

In December 2016 the Dutch Prime Minister Rutte decided to set the outcome of the referendum aside and ratify the EU-Ukrainian Agreement on one condition. An annex was included that the agreement cannot be seen as a steppingstone to EU membership and cannot be used as one in the future. The Annex of course is symbolic and doesn’t make a significant difference to the agreement. Ratification was not without risk as it was done three months before the national elections were held and according to polls Geert Wilders’s party was lurking not far behind from the Prime Minister Rutte. The elections in March this year showed however that Rutte’s decision could be forgiven as he convincingly won the elections again.

So whether the Dutch reluctance towards the EU-Ukrainian association has disappeared remains unclear. Apart from the new multilateral agreement the future of Dutch-Ukrainian relations is uncertain. But the two nations might have more in common than they realize as the Dutch too have had a difficult relationship with Russia the last few years. 193 Dutch people have lost their lives in Eastern Ukraine during the MH-17 flight and many are still hopeful to find those responsible for bringing down the airplane. Perhaps in the future the two nations might find some common ground in their grief and tightening the belts between the two nations might not be so bad idea after all.

Publications with tag «Foreign Policy»
Foreign Policy

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Foreign Policy

ICPS conducted a video conference on bilateral relations between Ukraine and Hungary

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