International

‘It’s bad that the Netherlands will from now on be obliged to cooperate in the collection of evidence at the request of another EU member state, without this being subject to the judgement of our courts. Legal protection for the Dutch citizen is being steadily eroded.’ So says SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen, who is incensed that her proposal for improved legal protection for Dutch people in relation to cooperation over criminal law in Europe failed yesterday to win support from either the outgoing governing centre-right parties, or the centre-left Labour Party.

The European Parliament today voted to approve the so-called ‘European Two-Pack’, the concluding measure of European Economic Governance. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, commenting on the vote, said: ‘If the traditional presentation of the budget on Princes’ Day in September continues to take place, we’ll soon be able to talk only of a ”budget proposal”. Brussels will be able in October to make recommendations and the Dutch government will then be obliged within two weeks to say how they will follow up on these. So the Princes’ Day budget will be reduced to an empty charade.’ The SP voted to reject the package, together with the recently adopted “Six-Pack”, because of the one-sided emphasis it puts on austerity and, for example, the way it fails to provide for a reform of the European Central Bank (ECB) to enable it to take truly effective action to calm financial markets.