International

SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen is furious that acting Finance Minister Jan Kees and outgoing Social Affairs Minister Piet Hein Donner are refusing to implement a ban on investment in cluster munitions. “Parliament gave its support to a motion from myself and Labour member Martijn Van Dam calling for such a ban," Van Velzen recalled. Under the Dutch system, parliamentary motions of this kind are under normal circumstances binding on the government. "I can only hope that the refusal to implement this ban is an April Fools' joke, although if that's the case it's a bad joke indeed," added the SP defence spokeswoman, who has requested a debate on the matter.

Dennis de Jong, SP group chair in the European Parliament, believes that the special 'crisis committee', of which he is a member, should look into the question of whether Commissioner Neelie Kroes's policy in relation to financial penalties connected to state support for insolvent banks was correct. Dutch state support for the ING bank was amongst those attracting a fine from Brussels. De Jong wants assurance that state support was given in a correct manner in the case of all European banks and to know whether the reaction from Brussels to this support was effective and even-handed.