International

On 1st July 1863 celebratory cannon shots were heard In Surinam. They signalled the end of slavery in the Dutch colonies. Our country was one of the last in Europe to move to abolition, and tens of thousands of slaves were freed. 150 years on, it’s high time that the government at last offered an official apology for this shameful history.

The European Commission, representatives of the European Parliament and the EU member state governments today reached agreement on the longstanding conflict over EU officials’ salaries. Commenting on the proposed settlement, which remains to be confirmed by the Parliament as a whole, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong described it as ‘a missed opportunity,’ adding that ‘the discussion focused entirely on the salaries and bonuses paid to officials. Important matters, but what’s needed is a much broader and more fundamental debate on the EU services in Brussels. Why do so few EU officials leave the service before retirement? How can we account for the poor work ethic in Brussels? What prospects can we offer these officials of a career which remains challenging and doesn’t isolate them in Brussels’ ivory towers, work which brings them more into contact with a range of social groups? Instead of a fundamental debate we had a scrap over a percentage more or a percentage less.’