International

The ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine is a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression and the right of association and should be immediately reversed, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty's statement came in reaction to the judicial decision taken this week in Kiev, a ruling which led to the ban on the party participating in elections. SP Senator Tiny Kox, president of the left group in the Council of Europe, supports Amnesty International's call. 'It is extremely sad to see Ukraine becoming ever worse when it comes to respect for fundamental rights. These rights, which include freedom of expression, association and assembly, are guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, which Ukraine as a member state of the Council of Europe has committed itself to uphold, but which it is instead increasingly making a mess of.'

Multinationals are avoiding paying $250 billion per year in taxes by making use of legalised profit-smuggling routes. The losses come at the expense of workers, small businesses and developing countries. Time to raise public awareness and to take action, as could be seen at last Saturday's debate at the SP's De Moed headquarters, when a public discussion was held under the title 'The Netherlands: an amusement park for big capital'.

By Anne Marie Mineur - European Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete is a jovial man. He jokes, claps you on the shoulders and gives the impression that he is just as worked up about climate change as are the rest of us. We’re doing this together, is the message, and he’s there for us. But we shouldn’t attach much value to his words, as you’ll see if we examine his deeds.

11 Dec 2015 We’re not allowed to say a word about the meeting with the representatives of the shipping sector as it was in camera, as they say: behind closed doors and totally secret. The tone of the meeting was thus strikingly open-hearted. But actually, nothing new came out of it.

The draft climate agreement has been published, and it’s no better than expected. The real points still haven’t been dealt with, and once again – surprise-surprise - air transport and shipping have been left out. Also, the agreements on adjusting cost-sharing are again under review.

Everyone wants to speak with the European Parliament delegation. Yesterday at 9 a.m., even before the delegation had its own official kick-off, a representative group from corporate business was knocking on our door, led by the Chairman of Cefic, the European chemicals lobby. His tale is clear enough: the most important factor in carrying corporate business along with us in the fight against climate change is quite simply how much it will cost.

SP Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk is calling on everyone to report their experiences with expensive concert tickets to the complaints point ‘Kaart te Duur’ kaartteduur@sp.nl (‘Ticket too expensive’). It happens frequently that tickets for concerts are sold on via the internet at many times the original price. ‘At Adele’s concerts ten minutes after they started selling them, tickets were already to be had for €1000. Resale agents take huge advantage of the fact that fans are desperate to go a concert.’

SP Member of Parliament Eric Smaling is attending the climate summit in Paris. The aim of the conference is to reach a new agreement on the climate. This has to be in place in 2020, when the current treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, expires. Smaling will be sending a daily report of his experiences to the SP site.

It’s good news that the Netherlands is set to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, says SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven. The convention provides that people with a disability must enjoy equal rights, as well as the same opportunities as any other individual.