Nieuws van de afdeling

26 April 2006

SP urges government to protest against secret CIA flights

SP Member of Parliament and foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel is urging the Dutch government to protest against controversial CIA-controlled flights through European airspace. A Committee of Enquiry of the European Parliament has this week confirmed in a report that in recent years hundreds of such flights have been conducted. Commenting on the revelations, Mr van Bommel said: “Spain has asked for an explanation from the US government. That is the least that the Netherlands can do. It would be more appropriate to issue a loud protest."

26 April 2006

Van Bommel: Europe must not interfere in Dutch criminal law

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is demanding that Secretary of State for European Affairs Atzo Nicolaï resist any further attempts by the European Commission to interfere in Dutch criminal law. “The application of criminal law and punishment of criminals is a national competence in which Brussels has no right to meddle," said Mr Van Bommel. "Member states are surely capable of dealing with this themselves."

26 April 2006

Open borders: Employment Secretary's climbdown still not enough

Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Employment Henk Van Hoof is to abandon his plans to complete the opening of borders on 1st May, a move which would have meant allowing in more people from central and eastern europe to be exploited as cheap labour. For the time being the work permit system will be maintained. SP Member of Parliament Jan de Wit, commenting on the climbdown, said: “The Secretary of State has had to make a major change of direction. The unconditional liberalisation of the labour market is off the agenda, and that is to be welcomed. But the measures which he is taking are not going to be effective and are certainly no guarantee of equal pay for equal work.”

26 April 2006

International Workers' Memorial Day dedicated to asbestos victims

International Workers' Memorial Day, which falls on 28 April, will this year be dedicated to asbestos victims. The day (which began in the United States, where "Memorial Day" has long been an annual event to pay tribute to US soldiers, sailors and airmen killed in wars) is intended to draw attention to the terrible toll, warlike in its proportions, taken by industrial accidents and diseases, most of which are avoidable. The dedication to victims of asbestos is a direct consequence of the international asbestos conference organised last year by the SP. On Workers' Memorial Day this year, SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard will, at a press conference at half past two that afternoon, present a publication bringing together the various contributions to the conference.

26 April 2006

SP: reclaim ‘Strasbourg’ rent

The European Parliament appears to have been for some years the victim of a swindle in which the City of Strasbourg has been demanding excessive rent for the parliament buildings. Commenting on the affair, SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer said “It's one thing to have that confirmed, and quite another to get anything done about it. I propose that the overpayment should simply be claimed back. This seems to me to be both logical and just."

25 April 2006

Punitive action needed to counter misuse of developing countries for medical experiments

The SP is seeking an immediate clarification regarding an illegal experiment alleged to have been carried out in India on a new pharmaceutical. The experiment was the subject of revelations made today on the television programme “Netwerk”. SP Member of Parliament and health spokeswoman Agnes Kant, commenting on the affair, said: "If is confirmed that under the guise of a conventional contract an experiment was carried out illegally on a pharmaceutical product, the so-called 'Axxion-stents' produced by the Dutch firm Occan, this is from an ethical point of view entirely unacceptable, as it would mean that people in developing countries would be irresponsibly exposed to enormous health risks."

International