In his farewell interview, DNB Director Klaas Knot stated that “no other country has benefited as much from European integration as the Netherlands.” Although the Netherlands is one of the largest net contributors to the European Union, it benefits in other ways, says Maarten Bosker, Professor of International Trade and Development at Erasmus School of Economics, on the broadcast show Feit of Fictie on NPO Radio 1.
He highlights the Port of Rotterdam as a key part of the Netherlands role as a transit and export nation. Thanks to the EU, ‘there are minimal costs and frictions when crossing European borders, which benefits us.’ He also notes that the advantages are not solely economic. One example he cites is EU privacy legislation, noting that the Netherlands would have been too small to push through such regulation on its own.
Bosker finds it difficult to fully support Knots claim, pointing out that other countries as Poland have also benefited. As such, he believes it is hard to say the Netherlands has benefitted the most.
