The lower house of the Dutch national parliament today supported a motion from SP Member Krista van Velzen calling for an enquiry into the effects of supermarket price wars on farmers' incomes. Earlier, Ms van Velzen asked Minister for Economic Affairs Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst and Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman to establish such an enquiry, but neither was prepared to accept her proposal. However, a clear parliamentary majority is now insisting that action be taken. This was not, moreover, the Socialist Party MP's only success of today's sitting: she also gained support for her demand that the Netherlands oppose what amounts to a licence for French producers of foie gras to mistreat animals.
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