Tag: Netherlands

Dutch voters overwhelmingly backed pro-European parties in yesterday's (12 September) general election, choosing centrist parties committed to debt-busting austerity.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the liberal party leader who is battling for re-election next week, says Greece should not get more financial aid from Europe.

Among the Dutch public, both europhilia (though declining) and euroscepticism are present. The largest share, however, is rather of utilitarian inclination. Similar to the pragmatic parties, European integration is supported if it can effectively and efficiently handle the interests of a small trading country, writes Hans Vollaard.

The Dutch cabinet became the latest victim of the EU-imposed push for austerity, with liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte presenting his resignation to Queen Beatrix yesterday (23 April). The case of the Netherlands, a triple A eurozone country which is becoming prey to the markets, is raising doubts about the 'fiscal compact' merits, experts warn.

A website launched by the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) to collect citizens’ complaints about Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian nationals has unleashed a flurry of comments on the Web. The EurActiv network reports.

Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has launched a website, inviting people to denounce Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian nationals causing 'nuisance' to the country's society. Sofia, Bucharest and Warsaw reacted with outrage. The EurActiv network in Central Europe reports.

A leading Polish MEP today (2 May) spoke out strongly against Dutch plans to expel EU citizens who make "disproportionate claims" on the social benefit system in the Netherlands, or who have committed "very serious or repeated offences".

Britain and the Netherlands plan to sue EU candidate Iceland in a potentially drawn-out legal battle to recover $5 billion (3.46 billion euro) lost in a bank crash after Icelandic voters rejected a plan to repay the money.

The Dutch coalition government collapsed on Saturday (20 February) after the two largest parties disagreed over whether to withdraw the Netherlands' 2,000 troops from Afghanistan as planned this year.  A general election is widely expected to be held in May or June.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has accused EU leaders of tarnishing the EU image in their countries, blaming them for the negative results in EU referenda.

Frans Timmermans, Dutch Minister for EU Affairs, is confident that Parliament will support the government's decision to avoid a referendum on the new EU treaty. But at the same time, he concedes that more needs to be done to gain the support of the Dutch public, which he says is currently "quite low". He shared his views on this and other EU topics with EurActiv Slovakia.

After more than two months of negotiations, the Netherlands is on the verge of getting a new centre-left government. The coalition agreement, which still needs the final green light, is planning large investments in the environment and clean energy.

The Netherlands government has decided to open 16 sectors of the country's labour market to workers from eight central-eastern European EU member states. 

Dutch voters think they have been had by euro price hikes and by Germany and France dodging the euro stability pact while they had to obey by it. The ‘no’ to the Constitution could be a high as 60 per cent.

Strikes marked the unpopular French government's attempt to scrap the Pentecost holiday as the latest polls showed 51 per cent opposing the EU Constitution.

Lack of interest is the most striking feature as Dutch campaigning officially gets underway. Some fear that apathy may produce a 'No' vote on the EU Constitution.