On her official web page, Reding stated that the website, launched last week by the Dutch Freedom party (PVV), "runs totally counter" to EU principles according to which citizens can move, work and study wherever they like.
The PVV of Geert Wilders has invited Dutch citizens to report nuisance caused by Europeans citizens coming from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria [more]. Types of nuisance that can be reported include pollution, problems related to housing or simply competition on the job market.
"The citizens of the 27 EU member states should feel at home no matter where they decide to move," Reding states, adding that the PVV website "is openly calling for people to be intolerant".
"Europe is facing difficult times. We will only solve our problems by increasing solidarity, not by denouncing fellow citizens. We call on all citizens of the Netherlands not to follow this intolerance. Citizens should instead clearly state on the PVV’s website that Europe is a place of freedom. Intolerance has no place on our Continent," Reding states.
PVV is the third largest party in the Netherlands. Although it is not in the government coalition, PVV has been an active supporter of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative cabinet, a cooperation which was laid down in a "support agreement". The PVV has an alliance with the minority government, which it supports on economic policy in return for tougher immigration rules. The two parties in the cabinet are Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which ranked fourth in the 2011 elections.
Wilders: 'Europe can get stuffed'
The forthright criticism by Reding prompted an equally blunt response from Wilders.
“Europe can get stuffed. We’ve had more than 32,000 complaints. This website has really hit the mark. We’re looking for facts – so talk about discrimination is fantasy and nonsense,” Wilders stated, according to the Irish Times.
Rutte has so far refused to comment on the website, according to Dutch media. Asked to react to the initiative during a Thursday evening debate on the European Union, Rutte said it is not up to him to comment on positions taken by individual political parties.
In addition, Rutte said he does not feel it concerns him because the minority cabinet does not have an alliance with the PVV in terms of European affairs.
Ambassadors put pressure on The Hague
In the meantime, ambassadors from the 10 central and eastern European countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) sent a letter to parliamentary leaders in the Netherlands asking them to distance themselves from this ‘regrettable initiative’.
"Dutch Christian Democrats deplore the website and have publicly spoken out against it", Dutch MEP Wim van de Camp wrote as a reaction to a EurActiv article about the website published on Friday. Van de Camp is from the Christian Democratic Appeal, a centre-right party affiliated with the European People's Party.
Wilders was also quoted on the ambassadors' letter, saying that it was "a pity about the paper" it was written upon.
