International

Last year SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel put a number of questions on the matter to the government, yet this year too I received an invitation to a party that the Dutch Embassy in Brussels is organising on the occasion of our national day (Queen’s Day last year, now, following the Queen’s abdication, King’s Day, 30th April). In itself all very nice, except that it came with a card which informed us that five multinationals had covered some of the costs. That might be suitable for the King’s line of work, as he sees himself also as a commercial traveller, but I find it scandalous in relation to diplomacy, which ought to be independent of any corporate interest.

Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans answered Harry van Bommel last year by saying that economies must be made and that there was no aversion to working with sponsors. Impartiality was paramount, and everything must be done in accordance with the code of conduct of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But how can you be impartial, if major Dutch corporations are co-hosting your events? Great too for small firms who can’t rely on such honourable treatment, strapped for cash as they are.

It is a disgrace to diplomacy if during meetings with our ambassador I no longer know whether he is speaking on behalf of a major corporation or in the name of the Dutch government. Or in the case of the Rutte government, would they amount to the same thing? It’s not for nothing that this government is imposing destruction through austerity. The smaller the state, the greater the influence of lobbyists. This ambassadorial reception clearly demonstrates this. Moreover, as the old saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. For the centre-right governing VVD this is no problem: they promote the interests of major corporations, but if there is still an ounce of social feeling left in their partners in government, the Labour Party, Timmermans, himself a Labour minister, would have immediately banned this kind of sponsorship. Rather a drop less Champagne than an embassy which makes itself dependent on a few big firms. Needless to say, I have politely turned down the ambassador’s invitation.