In other words, in the Netherlands we have the European single market to thank for a big piece of our pie. But you may now ask: how about the euro, our common currency? How does that balance out? As you know, the creation of the euro was primarily a political project.
Discussions on economic and monetary union gained momentum after the fall of the Berlin wall. Germany once again became a unified nation. The other European partners, principally the French, were keen to ensure the reunified Germany stayed embedded in a united Europe. That was the deal that Mitterrand made with Kohl: unification for you; the euro for us.