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| Eurosceptics Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen |
In a foretaste of his campaign for European parliamentary elections
in May, Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders is making his case that
the Netherlands would be better off leaving the European Union.
He claimed Thursday a "NExit" -- Netherlands exit from both the
European Union and euro currency zone -- would add nearly 10,000 euros
($13,000) to GDP per capita over two decades, from around 35,000 euros
now.
The Dutch government rejects Wilders' views, saying a pullout from the
European Union would cause irreparable damage to trade relations in a
country heavily reliant on trade, and a euro departure would lead to a
new financial crisis.
Wilders' views on leaving the European Union have so far gained little
traction in the Netherlands, and are seen as practically unworkable.
However, his euro-skeptic stance, like that of other parties elsewhere
on the political extremes -- such as France's Marine Le Pen, Greece's
Alexis Tsipras and Britain's Nigel Farage, does resonate with a wider
public.
A survey published last week by pollster Maurice de Hond found almost
as many Dutch would vote for Wilders' Freedom Party as for the two
parties in the centrist governing coalition combined -- if national
elections were held today. They are not scheduled until 2017. Wilders
said he hoped that his faction would be the largest Dutch faction in the
European elections.
At the press conference, Wilders presented a study that concluded there
would be significant positive economic effects from leaving the EU. He
commissioned the study from the London-based think-tank Capital
Economics, founded by Wilders Eurosceptic economist friend Roger Bootle.
EU-Digest
