Nieuws van de afdeling

28 January 2010

Liotard: “Better regulations needed for farmed fish”

“The wellbeing of human beings and of animals must be the starting points for European policy, not afterthoughts." So argues Kartika Liotard, Member of the European Parliament for the SP. "In aquaculture, which involves the intensive, industrialised production of fish for consumption, improvements in welfare have not been treated as a central task, and too little attention has been paid, also, to the environment."

28 January 2010

Share our wealth with the very poorest

“Koenders' aid doesn't aid”, was former centre-right (VVD) Member of Parliament Arend-Jan Boekestijn's view in an opinion piece which appeared in NRC.Next on 20th January. Expressing pity for development minister Bert Koenders (or ‘poor Koenders’), Boekestijn announced that the 'God-is-dead-theory' was valid in relation to modern development aid, but was very selective in his reading of the report on which he based this, ignoring criticism of his own hobby horses.

28 January 2010

Council of Europe: Cancel Haiti's debts now!

A call from SP Senator Tiny Kox on behalf of the United Left group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for Haiti's debts to be immediately cancelled won broad support in the 47-country body. “Giving money now to combat the results of the catastrophic earthquake then shortly after demanding money in payment of foreign debts makes absolutely no sense,” said Kox.

26 January 2010

Parliament must summons De Hoop Scheffer over Iraq war report

According to SP member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, Parliament must interview former Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in public in relation to the Davids Commission report, which found that the government of which De Hoop Scheffer was a member, acted unlawfully in supporting the US-UK attack on Iraq in 2003. Van Bommel's statement came in reaction to this morning's pronouncements from the former minister, who went on to head NATO, during the radio programme Dit is de Dag ('This is the day'). “The Davids Commission concluded that the decision to support the attack on Iraq was based in the first instance on 'Atlantic solidarity'" says Van Bommel. "If De Hoop Scheffer denies this he is denying at the same time the Commission's core findings. Parliament cannot ignore the views of this directly involved former minister and should interview him publicly."

25 January 2010

Explanation demanded over lobbying by biotech firm

The SP is supporting protests against the dishonest lobby practices of a manufacturer of genetically manipulated foodstuffs. Biotech giant Syngenta has hired the lobbying services of one Suzy Renckens. Until recently Renckens was employed as the head of the scientific panel researching into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on behalf of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), an official EU body.

24 January 2010

Weeklog Kartika Liotard: Old people on the agenda at the European Parliament

Along with a motley company of Euro-MPs from various political tendencies, I found in Strasbourg this week that there was enough time between voting sessions to attend the re-establishment of the Intergroup on Ageing. And not only had I to find the time, but the place, as we all ended up going to the wrong room, having been given the wrong number. 1.3 instead of 3.1, a mistake involving numerous storeys, flights of stairs, lifts and corridors. You might well think that old age brings with it a number of deficiencies, but as it turns out, anyone can make mistakes, even a room coordinator barely out of school!

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