International

The European Commission today presented proposals for further rail liberalisation. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, responding to the proposals, says: ‘These plans would put Europe clearly on the wrong track. If the Commission gets its way, the whole of the Dutch rail network would have to be put out to tender in 2019. Liberalisation has made train travel dearer and undermined supervision, while problems with tendering have even put passenger safety in jeopardy, as the Prorail report published today shows.’ Prorail, which controls and maintains the Dutch railway system’s tracks, was the subject of numerous criticisms in a report the publication of which was revealed by daily newspaper Volkskrant to have been held up for months by the government.

People-smuggling is the fastest-growing form of organised crime, with an estimated turnover of €35 billion per annum. ‘This horrific abuse of the most elementary human rights should be at the very top of the political agenda, certainly in Europe, where every citizen should be protected by the European Convention on Human Rights,’ said SP Senator Tiny Kox in Strasbourg today, where a resolution against modern slavery put forward by the SP and others in the European United Left group won unanimous support.