Nieuws van de afdeling

14 September 2011

Van Bommel: ‘Rawagede verdict historic’

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel describes himself as ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the verdict of the court in The Hague in a case brought under Dutch law by seven widows from the Indonesian village of Rawagede. The court today ruled that the Netherlands is responsible for war crimes committed in 1947 against the male population of the village. Van Bommel, who was in court to hear the ruling, described it as a ‘historic verdict which, for the seven widows, has come not a moment too soon.’

13 September 2011

European Parliament supports SP proposal for check on effects of new laws on small businesses

The European Parliament has voted to support the proposal from SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong for the introduction of a parliamentary check on the impact of European laws and rules on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ‘Working with representatives of the small business sector, I developed these proposals last year,’ says De Jong. ‘The European Parliament has now adopted them. That’s good news for real entrepreneurs in the Netherlands and Europe.’

8 September 2011

Palestinian Parliament becomes partner of Council of Europe

The Council of Europe has responded positively to the request from the Palestinian Parliament for closer cooperation. A proposal to this effect from SP Senator Tiny Kox today received, at its meeting in the Italian town of Caserta, the unanimous support of the Political Committee of the organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly, in which every European country’s parliament participates

7 September 2011

On Maastricht, Greece and Europe

In those February days of 1992 we stood at the gates of the government building in Maastricht. We stood there – almost twenty years ago – to demonstrate against the Maastricht treaty, which had been cobbled together inside.

7 September 2011

'Stop the European Parliament travelling circus'

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel believes that Prime Minister Mark Rutte should be supporting the European Parliament in its decision at long last to hold fewer meetings in Strasbourg. ‘The journey from Brussels to Strasbourg and back, which costs millions, has been a blot on the landscape for years,’ he says. ‘Now that a decision has at last been taken to hold one meeting fewer per year in Strasbourg, the French are protesting. Rutte must make it clear to France that this waste of money has to stop.’

6 September 2011

'Brave of the defence minister to call a war a war’

SP leader Emile Roemer and Parliamentary foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel have complimented Defence Minister Hans Hillen on his honesty in referring to the police training mission in the Afghan province of Kunduz as ‘a military mission’. In January, the government was able to gain a majority in Parliament in favour of the mission only when it was termed a ‘police mission’, making it appear as if the operation had nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan.

International