摘要: With some stretch of the imagination one could argue that since the early 2000s events in the Netherlands have only just fallen short of a political revolution—in otherwise a steady pro-European, elite-driven, consensual political system. The political turmoil had at its heart attitudes towards Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro as well as to the European Union (EU) more generally. These developments marked a clear change from what had gone on before the euro banknotes and coins were introduced in 2002. Thus the analysis of the developments in the Netherlands over the period 2002–7 stand in stark contrast to the developments over the prior five years (Verdun 2002).Though the Netherlands made gradual moves towards economic and monetary integration in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s (Verdun 1990), the first years of the new millennium turned to be everything but gradual and smooth. Once the euro was introduced many Dutch citizens experienced an increase in prices and attributed blame to the euro. Furthermore, a recession that followed the boom of the late 1990s made Dutch citizens wonder if the euro was a major cause of economic decline. In the midst of all these concerns, the Dutch political system was shaken up by the rise of a new politician, Pim Fortuyn, and his party [Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF)], the success of which was cut short when he was murdered in 2002. Another political murder of a documentary maker, Theo van Gogh, in 2004 put into question Dutch policies towards