The Netherlands was one of the six founding members of the Common Market, and for years the Dutch were among the European Union’s most enthusiastic supporters. To a seafaring nation, proud of its tolerance, pragmatism and liberal traditions, the attempt to overcome the narrow nationalisms of the past was an ideal shared by governments and society alike.

No longer. Europe, for the Dutch, has lost its allure. Few politicians now call for an ever-closer union. Even fewer see in Brussels a model of efficiency, probity or accountability. The Dutch are to vote on the European constitution three days after the French referendum. Disillusioned with EU bureaucracy, resentful that they pay a disproportionately high share of the EU’s rising costs and fearful of losing their national identity, the Dutch may vote decisively against.

Such a rejection would be even more indicative of grave doubts about the European project than a French “non”. It would be for different reasons. The centre-right Government of Jan Peter Balkenende, admittedly, has lost some of its popularity. But this is no revolt against an overweening national executive. Mr Balkenende has been campaigning for the constitution, but with little enthusiasm. There is little in the document that particularly antagonises the Dutch. But many in his party share the general discontent.

Several factors contribute to this unease. The first is disgust at the way the French and German governments conspired to destroy the Stability Pact, revealing that in the EU some animals are far more equal than others. Dutch enthusiasm for the single market has also been tempered by the feeling that other Europeans have taken advantage of, or abused, Dutch liberalism, which was the cultural cornerstone of the country. However, the Dutch have come to realise that its generosity has been abused in Brussels, where true liberalism is seen by many as weakness.

Nowhere has this issue been more controversial than in the field of immigration. The large number of recent immigrants has strained Dutch social security budgets at time when economic retrenchment has forced painful cuts. Some immigrants have not only failed to integrate into Dutch society, but even actively oppose, as sinful and corrupt, its liberal values. With the murder of the right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, and the more recent killing of a controversial film-maker by Muslim extremists, many Dutch fear that their hospitality and tolerance have been exploited by the intolerant.

Above all, the country is reacting to years of stifling liberal consensus. There is a backlash against the assumptions that The Hague should pay generously for other Europeans, take a lead in development aid or make concessions to a club dominated by larger members determined to have their own way. The Dutch want to concentrate on priorities at home. What they dislike is not the idea of a constitution, but the accretion of more power to an unaccountable Brussels. The Netherlands has the chance to speak for Europe. The Dutch should vote “nee” in the referendum.