Nieuws van de afdeling

15 February 2007

Major step forward in tackling fur trade

Minister of Agriculture Cees Veerman today promised the SP that the ban on the import of furs from seals would be strengthened. In a motion from SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen which won broad support, the Minister was called upon to keep pelts from the South African fur seal, hunted en masse in the cruellest manner in Namibia, off the Dutch market.

14 February 2007

Farm budget should be partially repatriated

“Decentralisation of European agricultural subsidies and more power for the member states to determine their own agricultural policies,” is, according to SP Member of the European Parliament Kartika Liotard, the thrust of the parliamentary report to be voted on at this week's Plenary in Strasbourg: "It's an exceptional report, almost the whole of which we can support”, she said.

14 February 2007

Europe right to point finger at CIA and member states who collaborated in illegal flights

The European Parliament today found the courage to approve the report on illegal CIA flights. Commenting on the vote, SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard said: “Rapporteur Claudio Fava took a very stern line with both the CIA and those European countries which permitted them to conduct their secret operations and then tried to thwart a European investigation. Most MEPs agreed that this was a sign that it was about time we showed our teeth. We are not prepared to accept any such abuses of human rights in Europe.”

14 February 2007

CIA must respect the privacy of European citizens

"The European Parliament is not willing to put up any longer with a situation in which the CIA is free to stick its nose into a whole range of data on individual European citizens who transfer money across borders or book a trip to the US. This is the second time in a day that the American secret service has been hauled over the coals and the member states and European Commission called upon to improve their protection of citizens' rights." So said SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard, whose parliamentary group, the United European Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL) was co-sponsor of a resolution on PNR (Passenger Name Record) and the international monetary transfer system SWIFT approved at today's European Parliament Plenary session in Strasbourg.

13 February 2007

No time to waste!

“Waste is a growing problem within Europe and beyond. We are in danger of slowly drowning in our own waste. It is therefore high time to take serious action before it literally goes over our heads.” Kartika Liotard, SP Euro-MP and a member of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment and Public Health, spoke in today’s parliamentary debate on the problem of waste.

12 February 2007

Europe must not allow itself to be blackmailed by the US

When it comes to privacy and civil rights, Europe is allowing itself to be blackmailed by the United States. The US hides behind the 'struggle against terrorism' as the ultimate argument justifying its desire to know everything about everyone, claiming this as the basis on which it has the right to decide whether you can board a plane or send money to your family abroad. Europe must not go along with this terrorism-hysteria. It should refuse to be bullied by threats from Washington, keep its head and tackle the problem of terrorism in a serious fashion while protecting the privacy of European citizens and European firms.

International