Nieuws van de afdeling

15 September 2005

EP Committees give Ports Directive thumbs down

The European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs this morning voted by a convincing majority of 20-11 to reject the Port Services Directive. Alternative proposals to amend the text were therefore not voted on. This follows yesterday's vote from the Committee on the Internal Market, which rejected the proposed measure by a similar margin, with 23 Members voting against and three abstaining. This is far from being the end of the story, but represents a major step towards the measure's complete defeat. Or, as SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer put it: “This is to be greatly welcomed, but it doesn't mean we're quite home and dry just yet.”

9 September 2005

Barroso: ‘EU Constitution unneeded’

During a visit to Poland the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso declared that since last year's enlargement the EU had been functioning normally and that the constitution would not in fact be missed. SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer is happy to note this insight, which demonstrates considerable progress: “This constitution is, we can take it from this, definitely an out-of-date document, which I take as a compliment to those French and Dutch citizens who voted 'No'.”

9 September 2005

God, Socialism and the Market Economy

Column by Ronald van Raak. Member of the Dutch Senate for the Socialist Party, at the Annual Conference 2005 of the Ecumenical Association of Academies and Lay Centres in Europe, 9th September, Dominican Activity Centre, Huissen, The Netherlands.

8 September 2005

EP votes against equality for men and women in health care

In what was to say the least a disappointing vote this morning, the European Parliament threw out a proposal that would have bolstered gender equality in relation to health care. SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard said: “It's incomprehensible, especially as it was an extremely modest proposal. Obviously equal treatment for men and women is not seen as necessary."

5 September 2005

No uranium enrichment in Iran, no issue for Security Council

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), independent supervisor of the of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, states in a report that Iran is not engaged in uranium enrichment. This is reported in various international media, which base their stories on the leaked secret document. SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel believes this to be an important conclusion. “Because of this there is absolutely no direct necessity to prioritise the matter in the SecurityCouncil," he says.

3 September 2005

Red card for Brussels interference with social housing

There should be no question of Brussels interfering with the Netherlands' social housing policy, says SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen. Ms van Velzen was reacting to the announcement that the EU authorities are putting pressure on the Netherlands government to sell a large proportion of the publicly-owned accommodation currently offered to let. “The government must exercise its right of veto in relation to other measures if this is what is needed to prevent the EU from putting our social housing in jeopardy,” she said.

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