Prime minister Mark Rutte’s European introduction tour kicked off close to home, with a visit to Brussels, then travelled on to Britain and Germany. Today, he is in France, writes the Volkskrant in an analysis.

Today it’s France’s prime minister François Fillon’s turn to meet Mark Rutte. Then Nicholas Sarkozy will receive him at the Elysée. Both meetings are scheduled to last an hour.
‘Relations between the two countries’ and ‘topical subjects like the stability of the euro zone’ are on the agenda, according to the government press office. The latter will probably take up most of the time allotted to Rutte. The Netherlands, in the wake of Germany, is among the countries wanting the European bailout fund to be strengthened by as many guarantees as possible.
France is the euro zone’s champion of solidarity and pushed hard for a bailout fund. It sees itself as the heart of Europe, a buffer between the cold number crunchers of the North and the sometimes chaotic bookkeepers of the South.
Differing views
These different views on Europe will come to the fore if the common European agricultural policy is discussed. France is a passionate advocate for European support for farmers but the Netherlands, with its highly industrialised agricultural sector, thinks French agriculture could benefit from an efficiency drive.
The two countries have one thing in common: they are both keeping their eye on Germany. Germany is the Netherlands’ most important trading partner while France sees Germany as an ally and a role model. Whether it is pensions, economic recovery or agricultural reform, Germany is always hailed as an example of how to do it.

Piggy in the middle
Dutch-French relations aren’t nearly as close. Belgium lies in between, for one. They have been characterised by a profound misunderstanding of each other’s policies for decades. When the French talk about the Netherlands, the Dutch handling of the drugs problem is never far away (only last week a French newspaper wrote that the illegal marijuana plantations that have been popping up in the Parisian banlieus ‘came straight from Amsterdam’). The Dutch ethical stand – on euthanasia, gay marriage, adoption by gay couples, a smoking ban that is anything but – also never fails to raise French eyebrows.
There has been some improvement, however, mainly through the efforts of junior minister Frans Timmermans. He has initiated all kinds of exchanges and reconnoitring exercises. France and the Netherlands work together to put an end to female circumcision, for instance, and the French are studying Dutch policing of problem neighbourhoods. The two countries are also exchanging specialised police drug squads headed by a common authority.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
In 2003 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer initiated a French-Dutch cooperation council. It organises congresses and promotes student and teacher exchanges and invites journalists. The council is another attempt at bettering relations but at best it is a case of trying too hard.
The French and the Dutch who both said no to a EU constitution in 2005 are in the same European boat together and they may as well get used to it. The Dutch will have to bite their tongues when it comes to French ‘arrogance’ and ‘megalomania’ and the French would do well to hide their amazement at Dutch tolerance which to them looks more like opportunism.
This is an unofficial translation