Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Mark Rutte
- Credit: Mark Rutte confronted gay-rights issues in Russia. Source: Wikimedia/Nick van Ormondt
2012
Euro exit
Geert Wilders
government
Herman van Rompuy
leave the Eurozone
NRC Handelsblad
Mark Rutte
september elections
talks
Volkskrant
Wednesday, 30 April 2014 - 09:11
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

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."

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • 29-year-old man killed in traffic accident in Woerdense Verlaat
  • KLM worried about tax for transferring passengers at Schiphol
  • Arriva wants to take over more than 20 routes from NS
  • COA expects reception for all asylum seekers this weekend
  • Burendag: National Neighbor's Day celebrated across the country
  • VVD Congress bids farewell to Mark Rutte with standing ovation

Top stories

  • COA expects reception for all asylum seekers this weekend
  • Climate activists block A12 in The Hague for fifteenth day in a row, removed by police
  • Firefighters busy all night with fire at waste processing plant in Rotterdam and Haelen
  • Election conferences of VVD, CDA, SP and Volt on 'super Saturday'
  • Burnt-out Fremantle Highway cargo ship arrives at Rotterdam port
  • Tata Steel emissions cut lifespan of area residents by 2.5 months, says health institute

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content