Blazing a Trail: The Netherlands and European Law

The pioneering role of the Netherlands in shaping European law, particularly through its early engagement with the European Court of Justice is well known. Dutch courts, businesses, and legal scholars played a central role in contributing to the breakthrough of the constitutional interpretation of European law, most notably through the landmark Van Gend en Loos (1963) ruling. The chapter explores why the Netherlands emerged as a key actor in European legal integration. It attributes this to the Dutch legal system’s openness to international law and a dominant self-image of the Netherlands as defender of international law, amongst others. However, the conventional narrative that Dutch integration with European law was smooth and unproblematic is also challenged. It reveals that the Netherlands’ role as a “pioneer” of European law was as much a product of strategic national interests as it was of ideological commitment to legal integration.