Nieuws van de afdeling

12 October 2006

SP demands European enquiry into Probo Koala

The SP's Euro-MPs will today urge Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas to take responsibility for coordinating the different national enquiries into the poison ship Probo Koala. Experience shows how difficult it will be to conduct such investigations now that the ship is free to come and go in and out of harbours as it pleases.

6 October 2006

EU funds: "Bulgarian-style situation" disgrace to Netherlands

According to SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, it is "scandalous and disgraceful" that the Netherlands, according to a European Commission investigation, falls far short of the required standard in its management of EU regional funds. Van Bommel, the party's spokesman on European affairs, is demanding an immediate explanation of irregularities in the spending of European subsidies. “This is certainly a stain on the Netherlands' reputation as a moral crusader," Mr Van Bommel said.

5 October 2006

Kartika Liotard opens EARA conference on asbestos removal

SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard was in Amsterdam today to give the opening address to the conference of the European Asbestos Removal Association (EARA). “An asbestos-free world can only be achieved if all partners work together: politicians, governments and asbestos removal experts," she said. “Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!”

4 October 2006

Van Bommel: Wim Kok unsuitable choice for EU ‘Council of the Wise’

SP Member of Parliament and European Affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel has described former PvdA (Labour) prime minister Wim Kok as an unsuitable choice for the so-called “Council of the Wise”, an ad hoc body brought together at European level to consider the future of the EU and the European Constitution. “Kok is the symbol of the old Europe, an EU to which the Dutch people have given a resounding ‘NO’,” Van Bommel said.

4 October 2006

SWIFT hearing clear on one point: lack of clarity is good for the CIA

The hearing organised today by the European Parliament on the international bank transfer system SWIFT and CIA spying on European financial transactions made one thing absolutely clear: that when it comes to the rules governing such transactions, nothing is clear at all. Data transfer to the US authorities by SWIFT appears to evade any real regulation. As SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard says, “The question remains ‘who will guard the guards?’. You can expect in this manner that the CIA will have no compunction in involving itself in lots of other European affairs.”

27 September 2006

Europe too small for monster trucks

Mega-trucks 25 metres (almost 28 yards) long and weighing 60 tonnes are simply too big for Europe’s infrastructure, says SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer. “This sort of monster truck might be all very well in Australia, but I can’t see them being safe on Dutch roads.” Meijer today lodged a written question over the issue with the European Commission.

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