International

The Occupy movement arrived today in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam the 99% succeeded in occupying the whole of the Beursplein – the square outside the stock exchange – with more than 1,400 people from throughout the country. The turn-out was so big that it quickly became evident that no trams would be able to pass through the neighbouring Damrak. Amongst those present was SP leader Emile Roemer: 'I’m really pleased that here, and throughout the world, so many people are standing up for the wholesale change which absolutely must occur. Those responsible for the crisis must be dealt with, the financial system transformed, and the bill charged to the right address, which isn’t that of these people here. I hope that this is the beginning of a fundamental change.'

'A missed opportunity’ – this was SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven’s initial reaction to the plans for the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the years 2014-2020 presented today by the European Commission. Whilst it’s true that there will be more possibilities to reward farmers for their management of the natural environment and a more varied and sustainable production, the Commission fails to act decisively, as Van Gerven notes. 'They fail to put an end to the mass import of soya from Latin America,’ he points out. ‘Neither speculation around food and raw materials, nor price instability is effectively combated. And a lot of money will be pumped back and forth in a bureaucratic fashion. First we pay it over to Brussels for the development of nature and landscape, and then we get it back in an equally bureaucratic manner.’