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Blog Dennis de Jong

15 February 2016

Dennis de Jong:

We won’t leave small shops out in the cold

This afternoon we held an official round table meeting in the European Parliament on the retail trade. It was striking to note how the European Commission continues to expect all of the blessings of an increase in scale via the internal market and is principally concerned with massive chains of shops. If we look at the purchasing behaviour of consumers, however, they are showing more interest in discount stores and specialist shops, with the latter making the biggest gains. So the department store formula, the style of retailers such as the Netherlands’ own V&D, is no longer working. Such shops fall between the two categories. For the discount stores the internal market can be extremely important, but specialist shops must not be disadvantaged by the European Union’s competition laws. They must be given the space that they need.

7 February 2016

Dennis de Jong:

Unreal atmosphere in Strasbourg

The refugee crisis, disquiet about the Polish and Hungarian governments’ completely idiosyncratic interpretation of human rights, a possible ‘no’ from the British to continued membership of the EU and from the Dutch to the Association Agreement with Ukraine, and a huge anti-austerity strike in Greece: things in Europe aren’t exactly tranquil. That was also true this week, by the way, of the European Parliament which gathered at Strasbourg for its monthly plenary. There, however, pressure came principally from running from one internal meeting to another. It is slowly beginning to seem like dancing on the edge of a volcano, only no-one seems to be aware of that.

31 January 2016

Dennis de Jong:

European Commission disadvantages local independent shops

These are difficult times for retail. Chainstores are failing and there's a threat of large numbers of vacant shops in high streets. For some, the answer lies in dreaming up new formulas: small, creative shops often do well. In Rotterdam, for example, there's a crockery store and a shop where you can get everything to do with lighting. The European Commission is now proposing to force any shops which sell their stuff via the internet to deliver throughout Europe. They appear to have gone bonkers. We should be cherishing these creative local entrepreneurs. We badly need them.

24 January 2016

Dennis de Jong:

Dutch PM has nothing to offer in Strasbourg

Last week the Prime Minister Mark Rutte presented the plans for the Dutch EU Presidency. To my request for him to show a little bit of vision, he dragged his old joke out of mothballs: anyone who doesn't have vision needs to visit the doctor. This is a superannuated gag from former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, the intention of which he moreover repudiated himself later. The reason that even the Dutch media showed hardly any interest in Rutte's speech was precisely this lack of vision. Our Prime Minister can think in no terms other than market, market, market, and openly represents the interests of big corporations. That's gelled with the Brussels of the last thirty years, but with all of these crises this era is drawing to a close. Only a Europe in which the interests of ordinary people take centre stage will be capable of putting a stop to these crises. I'm afraid that Rutte still has to learn this lesson.

17 January 2016

Dennis de Jong:

Dreaming about Rutte in Strasbourg

At the beginning of every six-month European Union presidency, the head of the government concerned presents the presidency programme to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Dutch Premier Mark Rutte, head of the government which will occupy the presidency of the Council of Ministers until 30th June, is no exception,. I have few expectations of this, but it will still be interesting to see how the Netherlands views the crisis situation in the EU. Will Rutte at last show some vision and, for instance, put an end to the hunger for power of Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and his ilk. Will he ensure that the EU ceases to be the plaything of the multinationals? And in this way tackle the real causes of the crisis? We’ll know more on Wednesday. Watch this space and I’ll keep you informed.

10 January 2016

Dennis de Jong:

De SP is a world party

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said today on television that the only reason he was in favour of the European Union’s Association Agreement with Ukraine is trade. He’s not alone in this. The whole of Brussels is peppered with economic considerations. Short-term advantages are raked in with no thought for the longer term consequences, either within the EU or, most importantly, in the world as a whole. For the SP, international solidarity is the priority. We too want to see a healthy economy, but not at the cost of people in other countries. If the EU sees the rest of the world as merely an export market or as competition, we fear the worst. A human being is more than a consumer. Trade? Great, but only if it offers mutual advantage which benefits ordinary people in all of the countries involved. And in the case of the Association Agreement with Ukraine, that criterion is not met.

3 January 2016

Dennis de Jong:

Wishing you a democratic 2016

We’ll all be hearing it a lot this week: happy new year. That means, of course, that you’re being wished success and good health, but when it comes to the European Union, what I wish for above all is democracy. The threats are legion: the rise of the extreme right, limiting of human rights in member states such as Hungary and now also Poland, and the attitude of the EU institutions which despite everything are still determined to extend their powers at the expense of national parliaments. Add to that the might of corporate lobbyists in Brussels, and as a member of the public you would be increasingly justified in asking yourself whether you will be given any kind of hearing in that city and whether your interests will be taken into account. That’s why I’m wishing everyone, first and foremost, a democratic new year.

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