About: The Netherlands
Netherlands to veto the opening of accession negotiations with Albania
The Dutch parliament blocked on Thursday (21 June) the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania. The EU summit will decide on 28-29 June whether to open negotiations with Macedonia and Albania.
Shakespeare in trouble: Dutch fret about English on campus
The growing popularity of English as a medium of instruction at Dutch universities is ringing alarm bells among local lecturers and students, with some now even calling for government intervention.
Dutch government appeals against court ruling over emissions cuts
The Dutch government has launched a bid to overturn a landmark climate ruling, arguing that judges in The Hague “sidelined democracy” when they ordered a 25% cut in carbon emissions by 2020. EURACTIV's partner The Guardian reports.
Dutch call for ‘high’ emissions standards on trucks, cars
The Netherlands have called on Europe to aim high on emissions standards for trucks and cars, ahead of a much-anticipated proposal from the European Commission today (17 May), which will impose CO2 targets on trucks for the first time.
Europe grapples with Dutch gas production ‘collapse’
For the first time, the Netherlands became a net importer of gas last year, reflecting the inexorable decline in production from Europe’s North Sea fields – an issue EU policymakers are only starting to come to terms with.
German air defence unit put under Dutch control as military ties deepen
The German military on Wednesday (4 April) put a short-range air defence unit with about 450 soldiers under Dutch command, further deepening ties between the two NATO allies.
IEA analyst: A heating and cooling target ‘could make a big difference’
As talks on the EU’s renewable energy rules resume, one of the main talking points is how to decarbonise the heating sector, and deploy technologies like heat pumps and district heating. The International Energy Agency’s Ute Collier told EURACTIV in an interview that the task is complex and difficult.
Dutch offshore wind farms first in world to go subsidy-free
The Dutch government has begun to follow through on its renewable energy pledges by awarding Swedish firm Vattenfall two contracts for what will be the world’s first wind farms to be built entirely without public money.
Cross-border nuclear cooperation must improve, Dutch watchdog warns
The Dutch Safety Board has concluded that cross-border cooperation on nuclear safety between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany leaves a lot to be desired. A new report warns that the current state-of-play could lead to “confusion and unrest” among the population in the event of an incident.
Scientists demand end to crop-based biofuels
A group of 177 Dutch scientist have signed a letter urging the Netherlands to back a complete phase-out of crop-based biofuels at European level, calling them a “false solution to climate problems”.
Amsterdam, Paris take EU agencies in lucky dip thriller
Amsterdam and Paris won the right to host the two EU agencies that must leave London on Brexit after a dramatic ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday (20 November) that left both result decided by drawing lots after votes were tied.
Going Dutch: Why Germany needs others besides France
The Franco-German engine gets all the media attention, but it is Dutch-German cooperation that has done the important work in recent years. France and Germany can do a lot together, but Germany and France should remember that Berlin has - and needs - other options, writes Christel Arlette Zunneberg.
Merkel attacks Turkey’s ‘misuse’ of Interpol warrants
German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised Turkey's use of an Interpol arrest warrant to detain a German writer in Spain, telling an election town hall event yesterday (20 August) that this amounted to abuse of the international police agency.
Tainted egg scandal sparks political row in Germany
A German state minister charged Wednesday (16 August) that over three times more eggs contaminated with the insecticide fipronil had entered the country than the national government has admitted.
Two in Dutch court over tainted eggs scandal
Two Dutch men appeared in court Tuesday (15 August) in connection with the tainted-eggs scandal that swept Europe this month, which saw millions of eggs destroyed and caused tens of millions of euros in damages.
Coal expansion plans up in smoke as Europe realises mistake
Substantial coal power expansion in Europe has been significantly scaled back in recent years after utility companies realised they bet on the wrong horse, according to a new study by the University of Oxford.
Dutch and Germans ‘massively’ get rid of contaminated eggs
Supermarkets in the Netherlands and Germany massively withdrew batches of eggs from their shelves on Thursday (3 August) amid fears that they contained high quantities of fipronil, a toxic insecticide which is dangerous for humans.
Dutch unveil memorial for victims of downed MH17 airplane
The Netherlands unveiled a national monument on Monday in memory of the 298 people killed in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner in 2014 above territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Diplomat: UK should not think EU ‘weak’ on drug agency relocation
EU member states are urged to put on a united front on the issue of relocating the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA), rather than bicker publicly and give the UK government reason to believe the bloc cannot cooperate properly, diplomats have told EURACTIV.com.
The Netherlands: Europe’s under-the-radar tax haven
Dutch NGO Somo has been blowing the whistle on the Netherlands’ tax practices since 1973. So far, to little effect. The founding member of the European Union was still the world’s third-ranked tax haven in 2016. EURACTIV’s partner Ouest-France reports.
Massive human chain protests ageing Belgian nuclear reactors
50,000 people from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands formed a cross-border 90 km-long human chain on Sunday (25 June) to protest against the controversial Tihange nuclear power plant. Micro-cracks were recently discovered in one of the facility’s reactors.
Dutch senators approve compromise on EU-Ukraine pact
Dutch senators backed a hard-won compromise yesterday (30 May) to ratify an amended EU-Ukraine deal, clearing one of the final hurdles for approval of the deal to help nudge Kyiv closer to the West.
Amsterdam backs a ‘transparent and objective’ relocation of EU drugs agency
The Netherlands announced on Thursday (20 April) Amsterdam's candidacy for hosting the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is currently based in London.