Dutch companies are concerned about the impact of a British withdrawal from Europe and are ready to launch a broad lobby offensive if the Conservatives remain in power, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Friday.

Conservative party leader David Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on EU membership if he wins a new term in office.

Britain is the second biggest destination for Dutch exports and Dutch companies invest more in Britain than any other country apart from the US, so there is a lot at risk, the paper says.

In addition, London and The Hague work closely together on Europe and are both keen to reduce red tape and ensure liberal trade treaties come into force, the FD says.

‘We have collected figures and are offering our members the opportunity to send pro-Europe arguments directly to the British government and politicians,’ Anton Valk, chairman of the Dutch British chamber of commerce NBCC, is quoted as saying.

The Dutch employers’ lobby group VNO-NCW says the issue is on its agenda but it will wait until after the elections before taking any action, and only then if it is welcome.

Shell has stated that its ‘commercial interests are best served by a United Kingdom which remains within the EU’ but other big companies with interests both sides of the channel, such as Heineken, Unilever and Akzo Nobel, have not made any statements.