Nieuws van de afdeling

13 February 2006

No military solution to problem of Iranian nuclear policy

SP foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel has asked the Foreign Minister to give his views on reports in reputable international media sources that the United States plans to attack Iran.

13 February 2006

The Netherlands must not allow Brussels to interfere in matters of criminal law

The European Commission continues to make attempts to stick its nose into what should be exclusively Dutch affairs. Despite the fact that the member states have, according to the EU Treaty, complete control over their legal systems, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has seen fit to give the Commission the right to enforce its directives through the criminal law. This ruling reflects proposed treaty changes contained in the European Constitution which was, for good reason, rejected by a clear majority of the Dutch electorate. The SP has for several months been pushing the Minister of Justice to exclude any input from the European Constitutions into the criminal law in the member states.

13 February 2006

Compensation for asbestos victims: Now it's time to tackle the culprits

Today Christian Democrat Secretary of State for the Environment Peter Van Geel announced that he was prepared to offer non-work related victims of asbestos a pre-payment against eventual compensation for damages. Work-related victims have enjoyed such a right for some time, in recognition of the tragic fact that many die before there has been time for full legal proceedings to be completed. The move to offer the same right to victims whose exposure did not occur in the workplace – such as people in the region of Goor, where paths and farmyards were routinely paved with waste from asbestos factories – was first proposed in a recent parliamentary resolution put forward by SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen. her motion was in fact rejected, but Mr Van Geel's announcement shows that the government has nevertheless taken it up. Ms Van Velzen hopes that the minister will now take on Eternit.

9 February 2006

SP rejects cosmetic compromise on Services Directive

The compromise between the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats in the European Parliament on the Services Directive is cosmetic, making little real difference to the actual contents of the measure. The core of the directive remains intact: competition on the policy level between member states and the setting in motion of a downward spiral ending at the lowest common denominator of current European standards. SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard: “Of course we will vote for every little softening amendment, but even then in the end rejection of the whole directive will be the best decision.”

9 February 2006

Van Bommel wants to know what happens to the billions paid to the EU

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is demanding to know – and sooner rather than later – how Dutch taxpayers' money handed over to the EU is spent. He proposes the creation of a publicly-available list of individuals, organisations and companies in receipt of moneys from Brussels – something which already exists in other member states. His call comes on the day on which a damning report on the lack of transparency in relation to European finances is published by the 'Algemene Rekenkamer', the Netherlands' official General Accounts Office.

8 February 2006

Research confirms SP view: Further opening of borders would lead to increased unemployment

Further opening of borders for workers from the new EU member states will lead to an increase in unemployment within the Netherlands, especially amongst unskilled and semi-skilled employees. This is the disturbing conclusion of an enquiry conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment whose findings have been leaked. SP Member of Parliament Jan de Wit, commenting on the report, said: “Here we see confirmed what the SP already, through our own investigations, knew: opening of borders has not been given proper thought. The problems have been deliberately concealed, because more pressure on the labour market is seen as desirable in order to force down wages and undermine social security.”

International