International

“The number of foreign workers living under inhuman and life-threatening conditions will grow if the government abolishes the work permit system." That is the conclusion drawn by SP Member of Parliament Paul Ulenbelt following a tour of a number of neighbourhoods in Den Haag led by workers from the local authority's building and accommodation inspectorate.

In common with France, the Netherlands belongs to the six countries which fifty years ago concluded the Treaty of Rome, the beginning of European cooperation. The people who in 2005 seized the opportunity to express their views in a referendum had a great deal of experience of European politics. In this half century Europe has not succeeded in winning the hearts of the people. Europe's friends should therefore bother themselves less with a new Constitution, and rather invest more in winning the public's trust.