The EU in pricipal is a good thing, but needs a major shake up. Seems to be too much money funding an orginisation that could be slimmed down, starting with closing one of the two buildings in either Brussels od Strasbourg.

No Surprise that only 1/3 is positive about the EU. The other 2/3 are Turks, Arabs, Surinamese and Afghans. They will never support any EU policy.

look, it's time people made up their mind about this whole European Union stuff. I mean, we cannot keep questioning its existence every time we go through bad times, no? Do people in the Neherlands say they have a bad opinion about the Netherlands every time they go through a crisis? Stast thinking before having this kind of discussion.

Is the EU a good thing?

Up until the EU started to intervene by ordering member states around, telling them what they can & cannot do, things were generally reasonable.

The fact that referendums have been discouraged, along with the plan to run all member states without question from a central body is going a tad too far.

It is better to work together, than allow a small group of elitists run the whole show: we don't need another chairman Mao, :P

Nederland will not leave Eu .Never. The decision must be taken by the ones who knows the truth ,not by illiterate citizens.Without Eu Nl will colapse shortly .

I am surprised by this article. Didn't the Nederlanders see that the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize? Surely that means everything is OK now. Now lets get back to singing. Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya...

I think the EU is a good idea.

Happy people don't make war.
We need to be tolerant and share our good fortune with the less fortunate, if we want to continue to live in peace.

The EU parliament must impose sanctions and demand those member countries, keep to the agreements, otherwise the selfish kale kippen should be stuck on a spit and eaten without mercy by those who respect the agreements.

The so-called European "Union" has become a big farce after the introduction of the Euro. It is yet another puppet show, kept artificially alive by those profiting the most. We all have to make efforts to find new ways of living together; what we don't need are any of these big bad ass politicians telling us what to do while in the meantime they pocket the money and leave others out in the cold to rot in hell.

The so-called European "Union" has become a big farce after the introduction of the Euro. It is yet another puppet show, kept artificially alive by those profiting the most. We all have to make efforts to find new ways of living together; what we don't need are any of these big bad ass politicians telling us what to do while in the meantime they pocket the money and leave others out in the cold to rot in hell.

In my travels I notice that Germany and France have become much more european in the past 10 years while Holland feels more Dutch than ever.

The EUSSR is a very bad thing. The comments here above show weak thinking, e.g. "without EU NL will collapse shortly

Why? Other nationals buy NL products because they are better or cheaper and not because NL is a memberstate of EU.

And yet y'all want the USA to follow in y'all's collective, regressively socialistic (used to be a bad word!) footsteps toward oppression by a dictatorial State. Guess it's now verified: Misery DOES love company!

Why The Nobel Peace Prize For The EU Is So Flawed.

http://theautomaticearth.com/Finance/why-the-nobel-peace-prize-for-the-eu-is-so-flawed.html

There is a BIG difference if it is your government that is telling you what needs to be done or that the governments of other countries are telling you this. We are now at a point where the EU is not about co-operation (we all want that) but about creating a single government for all countries.

We may be 'family' with Greece, Spain, Kosovo, etc. in a few hundreds years but not now. It is too soon, we are still too different. We don't know eachother well enough to pay eachothers bills. Let's be good neighbours for now.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9613384/Germany-shocks-EU-with-fiscal-overlord-demand.html

As it is, and because German hegemony is utterly unacceptable for historical reasons, an equally bad outcome is proposed: power to check the books and crack the whip will be vested undemocratically in Brussels.

The European Commission and European Central Bank will have extraordinary new responsibility and authority, a million miles beyond the scrutiny or veto of humble voters.

They propose new rules that nobody really believes can sustain the eurozone in its present form, and which will also cripple European democracy.

The EU is a good thing but it probably should not have expanded as quickly as it did. Some of the members on the southern and eastern fringe were not ready and may never be ready to play a part in a union of "adult" nations. The fact that the Greeks are rioting because their more responsible neighbors won't lent them any more money until they get their act together is an indication of the challenges ahead.

@Jab:
So you suggest that two thirds of the population is Turks, Arabs, Surinamese and Afghans and they are against any EU policy? A nice imagination you got there if you ask me. Fortunately you didn't include the orcs, urukhais, ogres and evil eye in that two thirds of the population, not yet at least..

EU is good cos when VAT in NL is too high, we can go germany or belgium for shopping easily. Anyway it is good that EU controls spending of some EU countries. There are just too much wastage.

just read the cover of the WSJ or the FT any day of the week and then tell me that the EU is a good thing.
if you think scoring a 6 out of 10 is a good score, then you may also think that the EU is a 'good thing'. most of the world thinks a bit differently than that.

I am not saying that Eu is a good thing ,only that EU is good for NL.
@Hubert ,not beeing EU member = huge taxes = not cheaper ( where on earth have you seen a cheap dutch product?) .Maybe you know ( wich i doubt) but a lot of dutch products are "made in China" .
Regarding SE countries ,they are a huge market for western products ,whithout this market EU,not only NL "will colapse shortly".

The mystery of who made what where?

Imported products from Japan, such as video tapes were often packaged in Germany in packaging that was made in Holland. I was surprised to see that the tapes were stamped as being made in Germany. I know this because I worked at a Dutch printers, before I retired. Apparently this is perfectly legal practise. It happens in the wine industry, all the time. British wine is exported to France, then re-imported to Britain, as a tax dodge.

So something tells me that we are being fooled by all kinds of financial wrangles.

Did you know that the left wing of the euro fighter is made in a different country as the laft wing.