International

Two major concerns characterise the current political era, a period that began at the start of the 1990s with the fall of the Soviet Union. The permanent war, for the most part waged in Asia and Africa; and the abiding need to put an end to nuclear arms. Now that the INF treaty has been abrogated, the struggle against nuclear weapons must be taken up again, and powerfully.

Since 2001 the Netherlands has supported every war of intervention in the Middle East and beyond. These wars have been waged under the leadership of the United States in order, in their own words, to defeat world-wide terrorism. It began in Afghanistan, where even after some seventeen years of fighting no end to the conflict is in sight.

Many products on sale in the Netherlands are made elsewhere in the world, often under atrocious working conditions and for a much lower wage than they would be paid here. In the last fifty years a large slice of Dutch industry has decamped to low wage countries. The result? Competition between Dutch workers and workers abroad, the consequence of which is a race to the bottom. According to free market politicians and the multinationals, wages in the Netherlands must also be lowered if we want to compete with foreign countries. The ordinary Dutch or foreign worker gains no benefit from this, but big corporations have the last laugh as they see their profits explode.

SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur says that she is delighted by the European Parliament's refusal to give the green light for renewed trade and investment negotiations with the United States.

“The trade agreements that were on the table today had, it's true, less weight than the rejected Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the TTIP, but they are along the same lines,” says Mineur. “The Commission wants to negotiate with the US on the abolition of tariffs on virtually all industrial goods. Critical NGOs describe the proposals as 'TTIP light'. That President Trump has announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change was clearly noted.”

In 2013 the European Parliament adopted by an overwhelming majority a report by SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, in which he called for a European approach to fraudulent invoices. Today his recommendations were finally embodied in legislation. Explaining the new law, De Jong said: “In the Netherlands the Fraud Help Desk works well. It's mostly small businesses that become the victims of false invoices and similar kinds of fraud. If, however, the invoices are sent from outside the country, it's very difficult for the Fraud Help Desk. That's why the organisation for small and medium-sized enterprises, MKB-NL has long been urging the creation of a network of help desks throughout the EU. The directive voted on today will mean that such a network is at last in prospect.”

Two developments  which have emerged during the last few days –  the prematurely ended summit between US and North Korean top men Trump and Kim, and the heightening tensions between India and Pakistan – are making it all the clearer why it is of the utmost importance that the international community, including the Netherlands, take serious steps towards a world without nuclear weapons.

From 1st January, VAT on groceries has been raised from 6% to 9%. For people on low and average incomes, as well as for small shops, this has hit hard. At the same time, people's energy bills, health insurance premiums, rent and child care costs are all on the rise. This has to change. SP leader Lilian Marijnissen has a proposal that would help put this right. She wants to see a tax on millionaires, which would enable the VAT increase to be reversed. Support for her proposal turns out to be widespread. 

Labour market discrimination is a stubborn problem. Last year research conducted by the Dutch TV programme Radar showed that half of the employment agencies in the Netherlands were prepared, if asked, to discriminate on the basis of national origin or ethnicity. If the firm making the request stated that they wanted “no Turks or Moroccans” - two of the major ethnic minorities in the Netherlands - their wishes were complied with without further ado. A scandalous practice which the SP wants to see put to an end, this being March 1st, the United Nations Zero Discrimination Day. Zero Discrimination Day has been introduced by the UN to draw attention to and counter discrimination on a global level on the basis of origin, religion, gender etc.

If you withdraw euros in another member state, banks should not be permitted to impose additional charges, according to the European Commission. The Commission was answering questions put by SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong and Dutch Christian Democrat Esther de Lange (CDA).