Jan Peter Balkenende being second choice for the position of European President does not exactly inspire enthusiasm in the Dutch. This may be because he is clearly the second choice candidate, after the British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair who has been sidelined. This is in contrast to the past, when the Dutch public unanimously backed its candidates for top positions. So how are the Dutch doing in international top positions?

In the European Union the Netherlands isn’t doing too badly at all. While the Netherlands makes up 3.3 percent of the population of the European Union, it holds 3.6 percent of all the policy making positions. And an even greater 4.7 percent of the top positions.

This isn’t a bad score, concludes Frank Mollen, the Dutch representative concerned with appointments in Brussels. However, it is a problem that young civil servants at the start of their careers are becoming less interested in a career in Brussels.

Never threaten
The Netherlands used to be known abroad as a country that held a relatively high number of top positions. The reason for this was our international focus, our interest in international legal order, our knowledge of languages and our overall knowledge in general. But today experts are less optimistic.

“We are bad at lobbying,” says Frank van Kappen, former military advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Unlike other countries, the Netherlands never threatens to stop any payments to international funds in order to push through appointments.

PR
And when it comes to public relations, the Netherlands falls short as well. “When Sweden sent a transport plane with food parcels to Africa, the ambassador paid a visit to Kofi Anan to let him know. But when the Netherlands sent three DC-10s of emergency aid, the Secretary-General of the UN had to find out by coincidence through a defence newspaper.”

Pushing national interests
Mr Van Kappen says The Hague never asked him to ‘push’ Dutch interests a bit. However, this image of honesty and independence can also work to your advantage. Especially when highly-sensitive positions where integrity is an asset are at stake.

All the same, one is left with the image of a frugal country that spends relatively little money and energy on lobbying for top positions. And if on top of that the Netherlands is too polite to ‘push’ its own interests, it leaves us with one last question: What would having Jan Peter Balkenende as President of Europe bring us? A lot of publicity, that’s for sure.