Nieuws van de afdeling

2 October 2005

The ‘Brussels Declaration’ against asbestos

At the end of the international asbestos conference organised by the SP on 22nd and 23rd of September, participants adopted what they dubbed the ‘Brussels Declaration’. The Declaration demanded an action year against asbestos and called for protests against the continuing use of asbestos in countries both within and outside the European Union. The Declaration further demands the establishment of a European Anti-Asbestos Plan with the purpose of ensuring that existing protective EU directives are implemented and that this implementation is monitored. The conference will shortly be followed by a meeting between the different activists and organisation who in Brussels were able to come together for the first time.

30 September 2005

Sad that supporters of the EU Constitution refuse to discuss the issue

Harry van Bommel is disappointed that leading supporters of the EU Constitution have allowed the national discussion on Europe to go quietly to its grave. The government, the centre-right VVD and CDA and the centre-left PvdA no longer see any advantage in the proposal to let the people speak out on the existing European Union and the future of the Netherlands in Europe. Mr Van Bommel takes a positive view of such a debate, however, one in which everyone in the country could participate and which would not be limited as to content. "In the end politicians will be forced to listen to what is being said in the general population, but the major parties have clearly more fear of this than interest in it.”

29 September 2005

Deloitte Report: Port Services Directive would be disastrous

Raised costs, the formation of monopolies, reduction in employment and deterioration in the quality of port services: these would, according to a report commissioned by the Ministry of Transport from consultancy firm Deloitte, be the consequences of the introduction of the proposed European Directive on Port Services. At the same time, not only the dockers' trade unions but also the European port authorities' organisation and employers' group Feport have distanced themselves from the proposal, sealing the directive's fate.

27 September 2005

Letter to Barroso on the scrapping of EU regulation

SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard has today sent a personal letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. For some time now his proposal to scrap European regulation has been attracting attention. Barroso even suggests withdrawing measures currently before the European Parliament, despite his claim earlier this year that the Services Directive could not be withdrawn or amended precisely because it was already on the Parliament's agenda.

27 September 2005

Netherlands still Europe's milch-cow

Figures from the European Commission reveal that last year the Netherlands paid a net €194 per inhabitant to the EU, making it, just as in previous years, Europe's biggest net payer. In 2006 the contribution could rise still further, to a possible € 300 per head. SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel said, “This is unacceptable. The Netherlands has for too long been Brussels' milch-cow.”

24 September 2005

SP seeks global ban to end lethal asbestos use

100 000 DEAD ANNUALLY - ACTION MUST BE TAKEN NOW

International