Nieuws van de afdeling

16 July 2010

Council of Europe: Dutch Justice Minister must stop turning children out on to the street

On 7th July the Council of Europe adopted a resolution calling on the Dutch government to stop allowing children to be turned out on to the street. SP Member of Parliament Nine Kooiman sees this as a clear push in the back. "A majority in parliament voted in 20th May to support a motion proposed by the SP stating that children have a permanent right to a roof over their heads," she points out. "The Christian Democrats voted against, the only one of the three Christian parties to do so. That's really unbelievable. Good thing that the Council of Europe has given Hirsch Ballin, the Christian Democrat Justice Minister, a rap on the knuckles.”

14 July 2010

European Commission: Creative accounting

The European Commission wants to see new accountancy rules which will enable its annual accounts to gain approval more readily. Instead of the current margin of error of just 2%, plans are afoot to allow budgets to be accepted to a margin of error of 5%, a total of €7.5 billion per year. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong is not prepared to accept this and promises to so all that he can to prevent the EU from evading responsibility for such a huge sum.

9 July 2010

MSD-Organon victim of multinationals' greed

'Unacceptable' is the reaction of SP Member of Parliament Paul Ulenbelt to the mass redundancy – affecting 2,175 employees of the pharmaceuticals firm MSD (formerly known as Organon) – in Oss, a town of just under 80,000 people in North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. "This is a disaster for the people who work there, for their families, for the 5,000 people employed in firms which supply MSD-Organon and for the future of many young people. Everyone understands that a firm which is no longer able to sell its products must close, but Organon is very much alive and kicking. It's totally unacceptable that a company should close because shareholders can make a few more percentage points of profit elsewhere."

8 July 2010

European Commission must guarantee decent conditions for postal workers

Following a proposal from the SP, the European Parliament is to hold an urgent debate the liberalisation of the post. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong is demanding that the Commission guarantee decent salaries for postal employees. "The damaging consequences of liberalisation of the post in the Netherlands include patently obvious competition around working conditions, mass redundancies and deteriorating service. The obligation imposed by the European Union to liberalise the postal market throughout Europe by 1st January 2011 must also be postponed so that the Commission can first look into the results of this. In addition, social rights for workers, such as a decent salary, must be guaranteed.”

6 July 2010

Save the corner shop!

The European Commission yesterday published a report on the retail trade in Europe. For the first time the Commission recognised the growing importance of the small shop, but SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong notes with concern that this was not accompanied by any concrete proposals designed to strengthen the position of such shops. In De Jong's view, it's high time that Europe saw once again a fine-meshed network of local shops. "The Commission is correct to say that it is of enormous importance for the quality of life in villages, but also for the environment and for older people with reduced mobility, that we have not only hypermarkets and shopping malls, but also 'corner shops', where people can do their everyday shopping."

5 July 2010

Belgium in crisis can point the way to social Europe

Stricter legislation can prevent a situation in which the taxpayer has to pick up the bill. In the face of spending cuts, Europe's social model can be maintained.

International