Nieuws van de afdeling

19 October 2010

SP opposes EU plans for compulsory ‘made in’ label

This week the European Parliament votes on a proposal to make all products carry a label declaring their 'country of origin', a so-called ‘made in’ label. SP-Euro-MP Dennis de Jong hopes to see the defeat of a measure which he calls "typical of the self-indulgent dilettantism of a number of Euro-MPs, primarily some of the Italians. The consumer will in practice gain little or nothing from this. I'd rather see progress on the introduction of clear and reliable labels relating to such matters as fair trade, decent working conditions and respect for the environment."

19 October 2010

No to extra taxes from Brussels

The European Commission today presented its plans for the EU budget. Leaked information had already revealed that the Commission's idea is to demand a fixed percentage of VAT receipts in order to make it less dependent on the member states for its income. The SP is completely opposed to this new tax, as SP member of Parliament and European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel explains: "As things stand the Commission is still obliged to pass the hat around the member states and therefore to present convincing arguments as to why it should have more money. Obviously they'd like to see an end to this, but that isn't a good plan."

13 October 2010

De Jong: 'EU budget committee chair spoke out of turn'

Yesterday the chair of the EU Budget Committee Alain Lamassoure, in making his proposal for an EU tax, spoke out of turn. The European Parliament is at present working on the re-focussing of the EU multi-annual budget for the period 2014-2020. Lamassoure's statements have thrown a spanner in the works of the European Parliament Committee on Policy Challenges, which was established specifically for this purpose. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong: “Consideration of the budget is yet to begin. As well as being inappropriate, these remarks were also unfortunate. EU taxes would mean that the public would have to pay more and Europe would demand even more power.”

8 October 2010

SP: 'Binding human rights treaty for corporations'

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is calling on the Committee of Ministers, which directly represents the Council of Europe's forty-seven member states, to look into the question of how European corporations can be held to the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including when operating outside the continent. The PACE move was initiated by a proposal from SP Senator Tuur Elzinga.

7 October 2010

EU police academy misuses taxpayers' money

The European Parliament votes today on the approval of European police academy CEPOL's books. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong intends to vote against approval, citing the misuse of EU moneys by the institution. 'The police academy has not kept its accounts in good order in any of the last four years. I don't agree that they should be given another four years to get it right, which is what approval would mean.'

7 October 2010

Millions in EU subsidies.... to dump postal workers

Dutch postal carrier TNT is receiving millions of euros to enable it to get rid of employees on permanent contracts and at the same time to hire new workers on short-term, cheap contracts. In recent years the company has received €4.1 million from the European Social Fund (ESF) to take on and train part-time postal workers, and a further €5.5 million in subsidies for the retraining of postal employees whom the firm wants to make redundant. TNT is looking to fire thousands of people, with the argument that otherwise they would be 'overstaffed'. SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen: 'Up front TNT takes on low-paid workers on flexible contracts, while behind the scenes permanent employees are on their way out. The company is engaged in replacing real employment with pulp jobs. And for this they are rewarded by Europe with almost ten million in subsidies. It surely can't get any crazier.'

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