International

On the eve of the WTO Summit SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer and several of his colleagues from the European Parliament's United Left Group (GUE-NGL) visited the World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters in Geneva. It quickly became obvious that many of the discussions at the upcoming summit meeting of the WTO would take place behind closed doors. As Erik Meijer said, “The poorest countries and those who are making the most vociferous demands for their right to development will in particular be excluded.”.

SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard this afternoon took part in a debate with European Commission President José Barroso. The chance to speak directly to Mr Barroso was provided by the fact that he must periodically meet with the presidents of the Europan Parliament's seven political groups. As a vice-president of the United Left Group (GUE/NGL), Ms Liotard stood in for group president Francis Wurtz, who was unavailable. She took the opportunity to issue Mr Barroso with a personal invitation to visit the Netherlands in order to discuss the reasons why the Dutch people had rejected the proposed constitution, then explained her own and the SP's views on the question.