International

The European Parliament is set to vote today to approve a resolution on the Association Agreements with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldavia. The motion calls for rapid visa liberalisation and intensification of cooperation between the EU and these countries. The resolution also, however, expresses concern about ‘the context in which the Netherlands’ Ukraine referendum is taking place’ and the hope that ‘the Dutch people will judge the agreement on its advantages, including for the EU and for the Netherlands.’ Commenting on the text, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong said: ‘By the context the EP can only mean the unpopularity of the government of Mark Rutte. Evidently the Prime Minister’s performance this week in Strasbourg has not given the Parliament any confidence that the referendum will result in a “yes”. That’s something which should give him cause for concern.’

The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on the digital internal market. For the SP, the most important interests in this are those of the consumer, and those of small businesses, as SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong explains: ´When it comes to the digital market there’s a danger that the European Commission will go too far. They originally wanted, for example, to make it obligatory for firms to offer their products on line to consumers in every member state, which wasn’t exactly handy for, for example, the local bakers who’ve just set up their own website. Fortunately the EP accepted my amendment to the effect that shops aiming at a local or regional market could pursue the same policy on line.’