Column: Long live Europe

- At the end of this week, European leaders started the first discussions on the new multi-annual budget of the EU. At the same time, there is already informal consultation about the future of Europe, with Germany and France taking the lead. These countries want more European cooperation, at the expense of the current powers that EU countries still have. This mainly concerns more Brussels in the financial-economic field and more money for the EU.

Last Thursday Mark Rutte had to explain in the Lower House that he will do his utmost to ensure that the European budget will be lowered with the British share (after Brexit).

Moreover, Rutte wants the Netherlands to stop pouring into the European treasury after that. In the politically distributed house in The Hague where D66 is pro Europe and the VVD actually wants less EU, this is an understandable attitude. This means that the prime minister will gain some time, because chances are that the decision on the budget dominated by the Germans and French will only take place in 2019 or 2020.

But even then the chance is minimal that Rutte can fulfill his best efforts obligation. As a result, he runs the risk of being knocked out by EU opponents. In 2020 there will be second parliamentary elections.

For the Netherlands and perhaps also the VVD, a different attitude towards the EU could yield more results. At the moment, the pro EU parties within the EU also agree on the idea that in several areas the interference of Brussels must be reduced. To date, Brussels is not in a hurry.

The Netherlands can make a hard point in cooperation with other countries. In addition, our country can also make proposals to reduce old-fashioned European spending on agriculture and weaker regions and to focus on innovation budgets and new technologies such as robots and artificial intelligence.

That is the new economy, the world of Economy 4. 0. If we go off to the current state of affairs then Rutte does not have the tide. A majority of EU countries are prepared to donate extra money for the EU. Moreover, they will probably, with giving and taking, follow Germany and France on their way to an EU that is going to work together more financially and economically. And that also costs European money.

Opponents of the EU have announced death ever since its inception. But to date, Europe is still alive and we see a real revival in the past two years.

The European economy is running like a tier and in all European countries, with the exception of the UK, a large majority of citizens are in favor of the EU. Political parties, for example in France and Italy, which until recently wanted to leave the EU, now let that thought go.

This has not only to do with the well-functioning European economy, the EU as a safety factor and economic stronghold in the world, but also with the UK, which with its Brexit does not show any hopeful prospects. Within the EU, the British provide the worst economic performance and even the Brexiteers no longer promise that the UK will grow into an economic world power after Brexit.

Rutte should make use of this revival, also in his own country, to join Germany and France. As elder statesman he is appreciated there and they will certainly welcome him. At the moment he is on the sidelines as 'no-sayer' with little influence. Whether we like it or not, if the Germans and the French work together then you have to be there.

Rutte can do more from this position to soften the Brexit blow for the Netherlands and at the same time also realize 'less Brussels' in different areas. In addition, he can write history by fully dedicating himself to a Europe that is at the forefront of digitization, innovative technologies and a climate policy that must also have technological innovations.

At the moment, Europe is being overrun by China and the US in terms of digitization and technology. China is investing hundreds of billions in artificial intelligence and robots in the coming years and is nesting with Alibaba and Tencent within the EU. The US has developed into a tax haven under Donald Tromp and protects its own business by charging foreign competitors with levies and other barriers.

And this works; European companies are responding to this call and are being persuaded to leave for Trump. In addition, the US also uses the super-companies Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon that have already conquered the online world within the EU.

Europe has no answer to this disastrous development. Rutte can play a role in this and at the same time ensure that the EU gets a more social face, with greater emphasis on employees and a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor.

If Rutte joins the Germans and the French and takes on this role, then the question about the contribution that the Netherlands has to make to the European treasury will be very different. He will soon be able to come home with a package 'less Brussels' and at the same time with a Europe that is more social, but also with extra European expenditure for the world of Economy 4. 0 that will determine our future. The Netherlands in particular with its open economy and export needs all new technologies in order to survive.

If Rutte manages to realize his EU package, nobody will complain about an extra contribution from the Netherlands to the new Europe. He can then explain very well that we get much more in return. And all calculations already indicate that our country has, on balance, additional benefits from the EU. This should have been explained to the public much earlier by the pro-EU parties