Nieuws van de afdeling

5 February 2013

Parliament supports SP on bankers’ bonuses

The Dutch national Parliament adopted two proposals from the SP calling on the government to make every effort to push through strict limits on bakers’ bonuses within the European Union. Parliament supported both of SP Member Arnold Merkies’s plans to demand European agreements to place severe limits on bonuses and, in the case of banks in receipt of state bail-outs, ban them completely.

31 January 2013

Gesthuizen: ‘Court ruling on Shell victory for inhabitants that company failed to protect’

On Wednesday Oil corporation Shell was ordered by the court in The Hague to pay compensation to a Nigerian farmer who has suffered the consequences of pollution for which the company has been held responsible. The conclusion of the case was that Shell had not done enough to prevent sabotage of oil pipelines. SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen, describing herself as ‘pleased’ by this section of the judgement, notes that ‘this is the first time that a judge has stated that Shell has a duty to do as much as possible to prevent sabotage of oil pipelines’ and that this is ‘an important step’.

31 January 2013

European Parliament deals blow to powerful commercial media

The European Parliament’s Committee on Justice and Home Affairs today gave broad support to the official ‘Opinion’ on media services proposed by SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong. ‘We need to call an end to the whining of the commercial media about Internet use by publicly owned broadcasting services,’ says De Jong. ‘These services have a duty to provide information which shouldn’t be restricted to radio and television. The Internet provides space for background information supplementing the news and for additional programmes. The European Parliament has today created clear space for public broadcasting services.’

30 January 2013

De Jong: further rail liberalisation would put Europe on the wrong track

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.

28 January 2013

Dutch government must take a firm stand against the wall

Israel’s decision to go ahead with the building of the wall in the face of criticisms from the international community means that the Netherlands must make its opposition known in no uncertain terms.

25 January 2013

Council of Europe: action against modern slavery

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.

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