Rutte threatened Euro exit in 2012: Van Rompuy

In a talk with EU-president Herman van Rompuy in 2012, Prime Minister Mark Rutte threatened to step out of the Euro if he kept his plans for the Eurozone. Van Rompuy and several other associated persons said this in de Volkskrant on Wednesday. In the paper, Rutte himself says that a Euro exit was never on the table. 

Van Rompuy says he was in awe over Rutte's disposition. In an interview with the paper he said he has never seen another Prime Minister wave his country's Euro-membership around.

In June, 2012, the NRC Handelsblad reported, on the basis of confidential discussions with high civil servants and politicians in Brussels that Rutte says 'no' to everything. One of the sources told the paper:

"France wants a European, not a political union. Germany wants the exact opposite. It will be difficult to reconcile the two. But our biggest problem is the Netherlands. The Netherlands does not want a bank union and not a political union. It doesn't want anything in Europe anymore. Mark Rutte says 'no' to everything."

According to the sources, Rutte was busy cutting the Netherlands loose from Europe. They say that Europe is under threat. Big political steps are necessary to save the Euro. One of the sources thinks that Rutte is "only busy with one thing: the Dutch elections in September. Because he thinks he can win that by taking over Geert Wilders' rhetoric, he is being stubborn in Brussels. Other European leaders come with ideas, with solutions. Rutte comes with blockades. The man is against everything."

Just before Van Rompuy came to The Hague in June 2012 for discussions, Rutte said he did not need "institutional panoramas" and isn't a "Europhile." Rutte makes it clear in discussions with other government leaders that nobody should expect the Netherlands to give up any sovereignty before 1 September. He would even rather the Netherlands "step out." The Netherlands Government Information Service (RVD) calls this "utter nonsense."