Zone of influence

We try to grasp the debate from our own position. The Dutch are all too aware of the size of their nation of 16 million people compared with the size of Germany, France and the UK.

Our diplomats have to work hard and effectively to have our viewpoints heard in Europe. There is a clear realisation in our country that no nation can be truly independent nowadays.

All nations in Europe, including the big three, are heavily interdependent, mutually dependent on each other.

The degree of this interdependency has increased a lot in the last century due to higher transportation efficiencies and other factors, and will continue to increase further in the foreseeable future.

A country cannot declare independence and then assume that it is. A nation or region can only accommodate its level of interdependence and so maximize its influence.

Our diplomats have learned that Dutch interests are best served not by going to Brussels directly, but by first going to London, to plead our case, then to Berlin (sometimes first) and then perhaps to Paris.

If necessary we team up with other small countries. Only then do we take our case to Brussels. A strong UK is therefore considered to be in the Dutch national interest.

We believe that if the Scots declare independence they will soon figure out that the best way for them to foster their interests is by operating in a similar way.

We can understand that some people in Scotland feel their interests are diluted in London before being presented in Brussels, but we envy the Scottish influence on the much larger English nation.

Likewise, we look with some amazement at Norway and Switzerland. They implement nearly every law and regulation passed in Brussels in order to avoid practical anomalies.

They just give up their right to vote in Brussels in return for a right to be heard there and for the illusion that they are less part of a strongly interdependent continent.

Henk Stokhorst

Roden

The Netherlands