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Nieuws uit 2008

6 November 2008

The State of the Union

The Dutch national Parliament today debated the situation in Europe in its annual 'State of the Union' debate. The SP delegation in the European Parliament, in the person of group leader Erik Meijer, raised three important subjects in relation to this: labour migration, workers' rights and enlargement of the EU. What is happening in the European Union in relation to these matters? And what are the Dutch government's views on them? Meijer's contribution, in summary, was as follows:

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5 November 2008

US Foreign Policy Won't Be Transformed

Across Europe, the enthusiasm for Barack Obama's victory is great. This enthusiasm is based primarily on the assumption that President Obama will will bring about a complete change of direction in American foreign policy. This is, however, extremely doubtful.

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5 November 2008

Critical SP Euro-MP not welcome in Belarus

Belarus is not prepared to allow SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer to visit the country. A delegation from the European Parliament's United Left group was to travel next week to Belarus to meet with both opposition leaders and the government as well as with victims of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. Erik Meijer was intending to join four other MEPs on the visit, from 10th to 14th November. "I had hoped for an overture," he explained, "but the old line is being continued: contact with critics is not desirable."

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31 October 2008

Dutch tram company in breach of Geneva Convention

The 'Haagse Tramweg Maatschappij' (HTM – The Tram Company of The Hague) is in flagrant breach of the Geneva Convention in offering help to Israel in the construction of a light rail connection through occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestinian area of the city. The Dutch government must put an immediate end to the publicly-owned company's involvement, says SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel. French companies which are also involved in the project will be brought before the courts next month. The Netherlands should not allow things to go that far, insists the SP's international affairs spokesman.

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29 October 2008

Where now for NATO?

NATO has taken enormous pretensions upon itself. It believes itself capable of acting as the world's regional peacekeeping force, of making up for a failing United Nations. That is, at any rate, the official standpoint. In reality the alliance has become an extension of America's policy of intervention.

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29 October 2008

EU must issue warning on tachograph manipulation

The tachograph on a lorry can be manipulated with a magnet in order to give a false reading of working hours. A driver who refuses to agree to this under pressure from his or her boss risks getting the sack, according to Dutch trade union group FNV-Bondgenoten. SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer, who sits on the European Parliament's Transport Committee, is urging the European Commission to inform the member states immediately about such practices and how they might be stopped.

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