Tag: The Netherlands

The British government hailed yesterday (24 June) a move by the Netherlands to initiate a process in the EU aimed at slashing the number of areas covered by common EU policy and legislation. The European Commission said it would follow the debate and figure out what conclusions to draw from it.

The EU’s top transport official says the troubled launch of a now-suspended high-speed rail service between Brussels and Amsterdam - christened the ‘flop train’ by angry passengers - is “not our problem” despite years of efforts to encourage such premium transnational rail service.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the liberal VVD and the Labour (PvdA) leader Diederik Samsom were neck-and-neck heading into today's general election, the latest polls showed.

While Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker expressed support to Greece's conservative government yesterday (22 August), the Netherlands rebuked Greek pleas that more time should be allowed for the country’s painful reforms.

Vaals, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in southeast Netherlands, is introducing special rules banning the right of residence of foreigners including EU nationals without the financial means to sustain themselves. The Commission said it would examine the decision closely.

Fearing an international backlash against the Netherlands for having a government that depends on the support of an outspoken anti-Islam party, the new Dutch minority coalition government is trying to downplay the influence of Geert Wilders' right-wing populist party PVV.

Local leaders must be given the freedom to create tailor-made solutions for making the 'Europe 2020' growth strategy work, but must likewise take more responsibility for this task, Lodewijk Asscher, acting Mayor of Amsterdam, told EurActiv in an interview.

Liberals won a narrow one-seat lead in the Dutch election, putting them in pole position to form a coalition that must tackle a ballooning budget deficit, preliminary results showed this morning (10 June).

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is conducting a "very subtle" lobbying campaign in Brussels to be considered a candidate for the job of EU Council president, according to sources, who forecast that should the Lisbon Treaty enter into force, he will be strongly backed by Angela Merkel.

The projected results of the Dutch European elections, in which the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) has recorded huge successes, are "disappointing" and "shameful", leading candidates from the Netherlands' main centre-left and centre-right parties told EurActiv in an interview.

The European Parliament elections officially began this morning as British and Dutch voters hit the ballot box first in a poll which is expected to reflect broad public concerns over governments' handling of the global economic slowdown.

The Netherlands on Tuesday (8 July) became the 21st country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, and the third to do so following the failed Irish referendum on 12 June.

The Dutch government has ruled out holding a popular vote on the EU's 'Reform Treaty', in order to avert a rerun of the referendum in which Dutch citizens rejected the European Constitution two years ago. However, opposition parties could still oppose the decision in Parliament.

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 MPs have backed controversial plans allowing for the mass expulsion of up to 26,000 failed asylum seekers from the country.

The Dutch Christian Democrat leader Jan Peter Balkenende, the winner of the January general elections, has set up a three-party centre-right government.

After 11 weeks of talks between Christian Democrats and the Labour Party failed, the Netherlands still have no stable government. The populist Pim Fortuyn List might soon find itself back in government.

Following a vote by the Dutch Parliament on 5 November the government will examine the possibility of a referendum on enlargement of the EU.

The collapse of the Dutch government on 16 October has added to the uncertainty plaguing the EU enlargement process.

The new Dutch government, following elections on 15 May 2002, consists of 14 ministers and 14 State Secretaries from a coalition of christian democrats, libertarians and liberals.

On Wednesday 15 May, the Dutch voters caused a political earthquake with the Christian Democrats as big winners and the List Pim Fortuyn as the second largest party. Christian Democrat party leader Jan Peter Balkenende is likely to be the next Dutch Prime Minister, but the government formation might become very difficult.

The murder of Dutch anti-immigrant and populist politician Pim Fortuyn has sent a shockwave through the parliamentary election campaign in the Netherlands.