And the margin looks to be astronomical: 62% against and 32% for! The Netherlands is another founding country, and as I wrote in response to the French vote, "an underappreciated aspect of this story is the sense in France and in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe that the EU is out of control." This angle is getting some play in this morning's NYT:
Europeans are worried, among other things, that the rapid enlargement of the European Union, especially the prospect of Turkey's membership, will leave them more vulnerable to uncontrolled immigration, especially by Muslims. There is a sense, palpable in the Netherlands, that the whole European enterprise is controlled by unresponsive, unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels who have it in their power to rob countries of their national identities.
Not to mention their social welfare programs. This is only going to become more painful. This snippet from the NYT is insightful:
The paradox here is that if the political elites and most economists are right in saying that free-market reforms and more competition are essential for these nations to match their economic competition, then the "democratic intifada" could rob the faltering core of Europe of the very means it needs to rejuvenate itself.
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