The Dutch have been counted among the staunchest supporters of
European integration ever since the parliamentary ratification of the
European Community for Coal and Steel in late 1951. The major political
parties—the Christian Democrats (CDA) and its forerunners, the Labor
Party (PvdA), and the liberal parties VVD and D66—supported all
important European treaties of the past decades. Only the smaller
orthodox-Calvinist parties, some smaller left-wing parties, and, more
recently, the List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) have opposed these treaties in
parliament. This overwhelmingly large support in the Second Chamber of the
Dutch parliament included the Treaty of Rome of 2004—the treaty
establishing a constitution for Europe. One hundred twenty-eight out of
150 members of parliament favored the ratification of the European
Constitution. a
Footnotes
a This article draws on several
chapters in Aarts and van der Kolk
2005.
