In the Netherlands, Challenges to Future EU Integration

A Dutch group's campaign for a referendum on the Netherlands' relationship with the European Union highlights the discomfort in core EU countries over the course of integration in the union. Euroskepticism is not new in the Netherlands, but a deepening of the crisis domestically as well as growing supervision from Brussels will likely exacerbate it. The Netherlands is a trade-dependent country at Europe's core, meaning the Dutch government has to balance opposition to political integration with the country's strategic interest in continued European economic integration.