"The euro was a victory of political romanticism over economic thinking and reality, " Mr. Bolkestein says.
Defenders of national control over taxes will be tempted to regard Mr Bolkestein as their flag-bearer.
For a while Mr Zalm's party was led by an even more formidable critic of Brussels, Frits Bolkestein.
Mr Bolkestein might remind him of that next time he presents the takeover directive, if there is a next time.
Mr Bolkestein also recommends that the commission should make more aggressive use of the powers it already has over taxation.
French voters may have objected to the arrival of Polish plumbers under liberalisation pushed by a Dutch commissioner, Frits Bolkestein.
But EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, who is in charge of the internal market reforms, said he was angered by the change of heart.
All this suggests that Mr Bolkestein and his cabinet have a tough job on their hands simply to keep what they have drafted.
But his coalition partners on the right, the free-market Liberals under the punchier Frits Bolkestein, also did better than before, coming second with 25%.
But these days it is a former devotee of Mr Bolkestein's, Geert Wilders of the far-right Freedom Party, who runs a website for citizens to complain about Polish migrants.
Frits Bolkestein, a Dutch free-marketeer of Eurosceptical outlook (by Dutch standards), would be a tough commissioner for competition, one of the few posts that really matter, if he gets it.
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Frits Bolkestein, the single-market commissioner (a post that Britain covets), has said that Franco-German calls for a return of industrial policy made him feel he was living in a 1970s time-warp.
This may prove the biggest single-market argument since the current commission, headed by Romano Prodi, took office eight months ago, and Mr Bolkestein succeeded Mario Monti, an Italian, who moved across to handle competition policy.
As a result, perhaps as soon as later this month, but more probably in September, Commissioner Bolkestein will propose that the full Commission formally recognize the U.S. safe harbor principles as representing adequate data privacy standards, the official said.
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