International

This summer, many people organised their holidays using booking sites such as Trivago, Booking.com or Expedia. Behind the world of sun-kissed destinations and even sunnier price reductions, however, lies a harsh system dominated by a handful of concerns. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong has picked up the cudgels for a fairer system for small businesses and their travelling customers.

The Netherlands should not ratify CETA, the trade treaty with Canada, says SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur, a view supported by a study into the treaty's economic consequences by the French Veblen Institute. CETA will lead to the import of products which do not satisfy European regulations, and puts the right to set these regulations under pressure. Without unanimous support from the member states, the treaty will fall.  

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) today ruled against the right of journalists to access receipts showing what Members of the European Parliament actually spent their office expenses allowances on. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, responding to the judgment, said that he found it “totally unjust”, adding that “the argument on the basis of which the Court rejected the request for openness, the right to protection of private data, takes no account of the public function of elected representatives of the people. We are using taxpayers' money and should have to show that it's spent correctly.”

On 18th September. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong and staff member Meltem Okcu paid a working visit to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki. The trip provided a treasure-trove of information concerning who gets to take the decisions when it comes to the use of chemical substances and in particular on the role of the industry itself. What prompted the visit was the widespread anger about the discharge of a dangerous substance, known by its brand name GenX, by chemical company Chemours in Dordrecht, Netherlands. The SP has fought on the local, regional and national level against this substance being omitted, which nevertheless turns out now to be present even in drinking water. Yet no action has been taken, despite the government having the power to restrict GenX and even to move to have a total ban instituted at European level. This would require them to be active in the responsible committee of the ECHA.

Together with the European Parliament political group to which it is affiliated, the SP has nominated Riffian protest leader Nasser Zafzafi for the Sakharov Prize. The prize is awarded annually by the European Parliament to an outstanding defender of human rights and freedom of expression.

The last forty years have seen little progress in terms of disposable income for most families in the Netherlands. A great many people were already aware of this from their own experience, but the Rabobank, a major Dutch bank, has calculated it precisely.

Investigation and prosecution are the job of the Dutch national authorities, not the EU. On Thursday the Dutch National Parliament debated the proposed broadening of the tasks of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO). In the SP's view, however, the PPO is like the caterpillar in the children's story that could never eat enough. Even before the PPO is properly established there's already a proposal that its mandate be extended to include combating terrorism. Parliament agreed with the SP that this was a bad idea.

Today the European Parliament votes on the enforcement of authors' rights on internet platforms, such as Youtube. The SP has always stood up for the rights of creative artists, but opposes unnecessary censorship.

In his last ´State of the Union´ address as president of the European Commission, delivered today in Strasbourg, Jean-Claude Juncker showed just how trapped he is inside the Brussels bubble. Commenting on Juncker's speech, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong said, “He's got a cheek, calling himself a friend of Greece while most Greeks have been plunged into deep poverty in recent years as a result of European policies; or calling for more migrants from outside the EU when unemployment in so many member states continues to rise. If Juncker has achieved anything, it's that the heads of governments, like lambs to the slaughter, have given ever more power to Brussels. That's why Juncker feels free in relation to policy areas such as taxation, justice, the euro and foreign policy to demand still more power for the Brussels bubble. Just like our own prime minister Mark Rutte, Juncker loves the EU. And both of them love the multinationals. So the task for the European voter next year will be to burst the bubble in a single blow.”