Nieuws van de afdeling

11 December 2014

‘Accepted but unwanted’: refugees from Syria seek aid in Turkey

Foto: SP

Party Secretary Hans van Heijningen and Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut recently visited South-Eastern Turkey in order to see with their own eyes the situation of refugees there. Reporting on the visit, Van Heijningen says that ‘the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the flood of refugees which this has brought about have put the fragile peace process between Kurds and Turks under ever greater pressure.’

3 December 2014

SP: EU shouldn’t let up on the fight against corruption

According to those responding to the survey by Transparency International (TI) published today, ‘Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014’, corruption has somewhat declined within the EU. Commenting on the findings, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong says that while ‘in itself this is good news’, nevertheless ‘the scores for countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy remain well below an acceptable level. Moreover, TI points out and with good reason that countries with good results can at the same time be giving wide leeway to multinationals to employ bribery elsewhere.’ De Jong will shortly be producing a new version of the action plan against corruption that he drew up with a group of like-minded MEPs in 2011, a plan which inspired the last European Commission to publish its own report on corruption.

1 December 2014

Closed! Israel refuses access to Gaza to Council of Europe delegation

Going back on previous agreements, Israel today refused access to Gaza to a delegation from the Council of Europe. The delegation, which wanted to look for itself at the results of the summer war, handed an official protest to the Israeli government and Parliament (the Knesset). SP Senator Tiny Kox, who was on the delegation, said that ‘Israel has closed Gaza to us. That’s in conflict with the rules of our Assembly, in which Knesset Members also take part as observers. Moreover, it’s counterproductive. People who close the door evidently have something to hide.’

30 November 2014

SP Senator Kox: 'Palestinians hope that Europe will now press on'

In Palestine hope is growing that European countries and the European Union will now press on with recognising their country and in so doing exert pressure on Israel to bring an end to almost fifty years of occupation of Palestinian territories. This was Senator Tiny Kox’s view of the situation during a Council of Europe working visit to Palestine and Israel.

26 November 2014

Kox welcomes pope’s message on poverty

SP Senator Tiny Kox has welcomed Pope Francis’ message to Europe delivered last week in Strasbourg. ‘During his speeches last week to the European Parliament and to the Council of Europe, the Pope pulled no punches when it came to growing poverty, exclusion and indifference in Europe,’ says Kox. ‘Full of conviction he made it clear that human rights were incompatible with such injustice.’ The leader of the Catholic world took a position in plain language against the arms trade, people trafficking and the dominant influence of multinationals in politics and society. ‘I’d like to see European heads of government who dared to express themselves in such clear terms,’ adds Kox. ‘But at the moment they’re pretty thin on the ground.’

23 November 2014

European Commission threatens to leave small firms in the lurch

Michaël van Straalen, president of MKB-Nederland, which represents small and medium-sized Dutch firms, during the SP’s day for smaller businesses

Since 2009 the Commission has been examining new legislation for its effects on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This ‘SME test’ forms part of the impact assessment which the Commission must in principle attach to every proposal. Evidently the Commission finds all of this work too much, because in new guidelines the SME test no longer forms an obligatory part of the impact assessment. Chances are then that the interests of small firms will be overshadowed, but we are not simply going to let this happen. In a motion which will be voted on this week in Strasbourg, we attempt to make it the Commission’s duty to perform an SME impact assessment on all new proposals. The SP stands up for the interests of the smaller business.

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