Today Ambassador Ruigrok, upon invitation by the European Union Centre at RMIT University in Melbourne, spoke about the Dutch perspective on EU challenges and opportunities, and the hopes of the Netherlands for the EU. Her audience consisted of Australian secondary school teachers following a Summer School program about the European Union organized by RMIT. In 1952 the Netherlands, together with 5 other countries, became a founding member of the (present) European Union. Since then this initiative to create a peaceful Europe has developed into a partnership between 28 European countries. The euro is the single currency shared by 19 of the European Unions Member States, which together make up the euro area. The main points in the Ambassador’s speech were the importance of a democratic and transparent functioning of the EU. One of the priorities of the Netherlands is to support the financial stability of the euro and economic growth in order to strengthen the European economy and welfare for its citizens. The Ambassador stressed the importance of the subsidiarity principle: decisions should be adopted by the EU only insofar a matter cannot be effectively dealt with at national level by the Member States. She furthermore explained that the Netherlands supports the gradual enlargement of the EU with new Member Countries, provided that all accession criteria of the EU are fully met.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:15:56 +0000
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