Dutch withdrawal from the European Union


Dutch withdrawal from the European Union refers to a desire by a group of people for Netherlands to leave the European Union.

Political initiatives

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the possibility of a referendum "utterly irresponsible" and dangerous to the country. Political parties advocating a referendum on European Union membership are the right-wing populist Party for Freedom, Forum for Democracy, as well as the Libertarian Party and 50PLUS.

Public opinion

Polling

A poll in the Netherlands by the Pew Research Center in June 2016, conducted before the British referendum which led to the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, found 51% of the Dutch respondents to have a positive view of the European Union and 46% a negative view. Another poll by peil.nl in the aftermath of the 2016 British referendum found 50% of the respondents to be against a similar referendum in their country, with 46% of those in favour of remaining in the EU compared to 43% overall against remaining.