It is expected that the Senate of the Netherlands, the upper house of the nation’s parliament which consists of 75 senators, will vote today for the ratification of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine. According to the Dutch broadcaster BNR, 48 Dutch senators intend to vote in support of the ratification, while 27 intend to oppose it. Thus, we can assume that the ratification process of the Association on the part of the EU will finally end, because the Netherlands is the only holdout country that has not completed the ratification.
Let us recall that in a referendum held in April 2016, 61 percent of participating voters voted against the agreement with the turnout standing at over 32 percent, so its fate was decided by less than 19.7 percent of the Dutch electorate.
In February 2017, the lower house of the Dutch parliament voted to support re-ratification of the Agreement. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said in a recent comment for the Radio Free Europe that the Senate would support the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on May 30, enabling his government to ratify the document. According to him, “this is a very positive development for the EU, Ukraine, and Russia, because it will help stabilize the situation in the region.”
During a briefing for journalists at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center on May 29, legislator of the Dutch Liberal Party faction and chairman of the Water Board of the Netherlands Sybe Schaap also said that most senators were ready to ratify the Agreement and “so, on May 30, we will put an end to a miserable story for which I feel ashamed.” According to him, populist groups used the ill-considered law on the referendum in the Netherlands to pointlessly protest, and eventually, the vote ended in a negative decision on the ratification of the Agreement.
The senator noted that the prime minister of the Netherlands eventually had to add an amendment to the Agreement which did not change its text. According to the senator, the ratification of the agreement means opening borders with the EU for Ukraine, which is an important country because of its geographical location and has huge economic potential, especially in the agricultural sector.
When asked by The Day about opportunities offered by the ratification of the Agreement to the Netherlands, Schaap said: “We are already investing in Ukraine. I know that many countries are watching Ukraine and awaiting an opportunity to invest there. Therefore, it is important for Europeans to have open borders with Ukraine as well and take advantage of opportunities for cooperation. We are a small nation, but also rank second in the world in the export of agricultural products. We have very advanced technology in that sector and we know how to trade in the world. Meanwhile, Ukraine has a huge potential in the agricultural sector, so we believe that it is important for your country to launch modernization and cooperation. The small Netherlands with a strong agricultural sector and your great country with a not so powerful agricultural sector need to work together, and they will have a great future ahead of them then.”
