NEXIT. Netherlands a Trillion £ better off outside the EU.

[Flashman]

Dutch would be 'better off' if they left the euro - Telegraph
The average Dutch household could be better off by over £8,000 a year and national income will grow by over £1 trillion if the Netherlands leaves the euro and the EU, according to a new study.


The study by the respected British Capital Economics research consultancy into "Nexit" finds significant benefits over the next two decades to 2035 for the Netherlands in leaving the EU and negotiating a similar status as Switzerland.

Those figures are crazy. The Netherlands is a core member of the EU and being on the mainland of Europe is naturally more integrated with its neighbours.

By 2035, a Swiss-type trading arrangement between the Netherlands and the European Union should see Dutch gross domestic product somewhere between ten and thirteen per cent higher than it would have been had the Netherlands continued as a member of the Brussels-led bloc. Over that 21 year period, the benefits of NExit to Dutch national income would have accumulated to between €1,100 and 1,500 billion in today’s prices

If those figures are correct about leaving and it is a pretty well argued case. Wow.

[Mich the Tester]

Those figures are crazy. The Netherlands is a core member of the EU and being on the mainland of Europe is naturally more integrated with its neighbours.



If those figures are correct about leaving and it is a pretty well argued case. Wow.

Yes, and in the Dutch press it says "The researchers do assume the transition from the euro to a new currency proceeds without incident and that other EU countries continue to do business with the Netherlands,''

Two rather hefty assumptions there.

[BrilloPad]

How much would the UK be better off if it left the EU?

Probably not as well off as dumping Scotlan - but still significant?

[Mich the Tester]

You're talking economics, but as I've said in another thread, this is about much, much more than economics. Take Spain for instance; historically Spain has been an enemy of Britain, and there is still a quarrel about Gibraltar and about fishing rights. Some of their best chums in Latin America have a quarrel with Britain too, about some islands in the South Atlantic and some research areas in Antarctica. Now then, Spain and Britain are both in the EU, and within that they actually cooperate on more issues than they disagree. Take the EU out of the equation and who knows which way that relationship will go? How about cooperation between the UK and the US, who have repeatedly stated their desire for Britain to remain in the EU? You see, you're opening a geo-political can of worms if you leave the EU, and those two worms I've named are only the first that come into my head, there are probably many many more.

Why create so much hassle and when something much better than 'in or out' could well be negotiated?

[Flashman]

Yes, and in the Dutch press it says "The researchers do assume the transition from the euro to a new currency proceeds without incident and that other EU countries continue to do business with the Netherlands,''

Two rather hefty assumptions there.

Maybe the rest of the EU could gang up on Britain if we left but it is very unlikely. The rest of Europe vs Netherlands? Nah I can't see it. Impossible to imagine the British going along with that for starters.

The EU could probably survive without the UK. Without the Netherlands, one the original 6 members? Its all over.

[scooterscot]

So if Scotland votes yes

all those EU naysers can hardly deny Scotland will indeed be better off outside the UK?

[Flashman]

You're talking economics, but as I've said in another thread, this is about much, much more than economics. Take Spain for instance; historically Spain has been an enemy of Britain, and there is still a quarrel about Gibraltar and about fishing rights. Some of their best chums in Latin America have a quarrel with Britain too, about some islands in the South Atlantic and some research areas in Antarctica. Now then, Spain and Britain are both in the EU, and within that they actually cooperate on more issues than they disagree. Take the EU out of the equation and who knows which way that relationship will go? How about cooperation between the UK and the US, who have repeatedly stated their desire for Britain to remain in the EU? You see, you're opening a geo-political can of worms if you leave the EU, and those two worms I've named are only the first that come into my head, there are probably many many more.

Why create so much hassle and when something much better than 'in or out' could well be negotiated?

I take the complete opposite view. The euro crisis has shown the complete contempt the North Europeans have for the bankrupt Greeks and in return there is a lot of hate for the Germans in Greece. There is no such thing as the European people.

If the EU died everyone would be free to make their own decisions and follow their own destiny. WW1 and WW2 proved that wars get nobody in Europe anywhere.

Lets just live in our own countries, travel, work all around Europe and just get on with our lives. We really don't need an EU government at all.

[Mich the Tester]

Maybe the rest of the EU could gang up on Britain if we left but it is very unlikely. The rest of Europe vs Netherlands? Nah I can't see it. Impossible to imagine the British going along with that for starters.

The EU could probably survive without the UK. Without the Netherlands, one the original 6 members? Its all over.

You are also (alongside KentPhilip) assuming that other European countries are run by people who take rational decisions based on the long term interests of their publics. They aren't. The Netherlands makes a reasonable attempt at that most of the time, as does the UK, but in the Netherlands there are popular extreme parties who are anything but rational. Some other countries in Europe are most certainly not usually run by rational people who take decisions for the benefit of the public or don't have a long record of doing so. Italy and Hungary are probably the most recent examples. Why not join in with the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the other solvent ones where the mood is increasingly moving toward 'yes EU, but less of it please'?

[Mich the Tester]

Lets just live in our own countries, travel, work all around Europe and just get on with our lives. We really don't need an EU government at all.

Ah, well we shouldn't need an EU government to achieve that, I agree, but unfortunately, at the moment, we do.

[Mich the Tester]

If the EU died everyone would be free to make their own decisions and follow their own destiny. WW1 and WW2 proved that wars get nobody in Europe anywhere.

Actually I think that WW1 and WW2 proved that if all European countries are free to take all their own decisions then things will go very very wrong. Germany has sort of been brought to heel; others could still cause trouble.