Eight out of ten Dutch people questioned in a European Union survey perceive ethnic discrimination as being widespread in the Netherlands.

It is viewed as being the most common form of discrimination, compared to discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, disability or sexual orientation.

People in other EU countries people perceive their incidence of ethnic discrimination as being far lower. Fifty-nine percent of Dutch people also think discrimination on the grounds of religious belief is common in their country, compared to the EU average of 39 percent.

The Special Eurobarometer survey points out that the countries where the perception of that such discrimination is widespread are those “where immigration issues feature prominently in the public debate”. In the case of the Netherlands, this would suggest that the media attention for the attitudes of anti-Islam and anti-immigration Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders influences people in their view that discrimination is common.

On the other hand, 63 percent of Dutch people thought the Netherlands is doing enough to combat discrimination – only two other EU countries scored higher.

Compared to the EU average, the Dutch said they would feel less comfortable about having a prime minister with an ethnic minority background: on a one to ten scale, the Dutch rating was 6.2 compared to an EU average of 6.5. However, they would be far happier to have a gay or lesbian prime minister than other Europeans would, giving a rating of 8 compared to the EU average of 6.5.