The Netherlands-Ukraine: The Dutch vote that could spell more trouble for the EU - by Natalie Huet

While we hear a lot about the upcoming referendum on Britain’s EU membership, a separate public consultation due on Wednesday (April 6) in the Netherlands has not made big headlines. Yet the vote is also set to be a tough test for the bloc.

On paper, the referendum is about saying yes or no to a European treaty deepening ties with Ukraine. The broad political, trade and defence deal is already provisionally in place, but it needs to be ratified by all 28 EU member states to come fully into force. The ball is now in the Netherlands’ court.

The referendum is not binding, but most Dutch parties have said they would respect a rejection by voters, which could plunge the EU into a crisis at a time when tensions with Russia are at their highest since the Cold War.

Read more: The Dutch vote that could spell more trouble for the EU | euronews, world news

EU Security A Complete Mess : No Organization - No "Chiefs" - No "Indians" - and extremely poor coordination

EU Security  Coordination In Poor Shape

Belgian authorities actually had accurate advance warnings that terrorists planned to launch attacks at the Brussels airport and subway — yet failed to act, according to several reports.

Despite the knowledge, the intelligence and security apparatus in Brussels — home to most of the European Union agencies — was limited and ill-prepared to handle the alert,

In other developments Wednesday, March 23, Turkey’s prime minister said his country last year arrested one of the Brussels attackers and deported him to the Netherlands, but Belgium ignored warnings that he was a militant.

“One of the Brussels attackers was detained in Gaziantep (in southern Turkey (close to the Syrian border) and then deported” to the Netherlands, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters about Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

Turkey said it warned both Belgium and the Netherlands that Ibrahim was a “foreign terrorist fighter.”

Dutch authorities later allowed him to go free because Belgian authorities could not establish any ties to terrorism, an official in the Turkish president’s office said.

Turkey formally notified Belgium of the 29-year-old Belgian national’s deportation on July 14, 2015.

The announcement came after authorities said they discovered a cache of explosives in a house and a farewell note from an airport suicide bomber — one of two brothers identified in the attacks.

The brothers were identified as Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, both of whom had extensive criminal records but had not been on watch lists as potential terror threats.

What Europe does not have is any cross-national agency with the power to carry out its own investigation and make its own arrests.

This means that cross-border policing in the European Union has big holes. It depends heavily on informal cooperation rather than formal institutions with independent authority.

Sometimes this works reasonably well. Sometimes this works particularly badly. Belgium is a notorious problem case, because its policing arrangements are heavily localized.

In the past, many Belgian policing forces have had difficulty cooperating with each other, let alone with other European forces.

Europe has to put some serious thought into setting up a "Pan European Security Network" to coordinate, trace, find, capture and if need be, eliminate security threats to its citizens. This has to happen pretty quickly.

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands - Social Services: Netherlands ranked best for sick workers, unemployed - Janene Pieters

Dutch employees are relatively well cared for, especially when it comes to sick leave or unemployment. A study done by American job site Glassdoor, in which it ranked the social benefits of 14 European countries and compared it to America, ranked the Netherlands as 4th most generous. Denmark, France and Spain got the first thee places, NRC reports.

The Netherlands came in first place when it comes to sick leave. Dutch employees can take up to two years of sick leave, and receive 70 percent of their original salary during this time. Germany comes in at second place with 78 weeks of sick leave, at 100 percent salary.

Unemployed people will be best off in Denmark, where the unemployment benefit is 90 percent of last earned salary for a maximum of two years. The Netherlands came in third with “very attractive benefits for the unemployed”, though it is dependent on how long you worked. The Netherlands pays out first 75 percent then 70 percent of last earned salary for a period of between 9 and 164 weeks. Belgium came in second place.

The Netherlands scored about average when it comes to maternity leave. Like Austria, France, Spain and Switzerland, the Netherlands gives its new mothers 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. The United Kingdom gives pregnant women 52 weeks of maternity leave, but only 39 of those weeks are paid leave and the amount decreases from 90 percent of last paid salary for the first 6 weeks to 140 pounds per week after that.

Paternity leave isn’t included in European law, which means the benefits offered vary by country. Finland is the best country for new fathers, with 45 working days of paternity leave, followed by Spain with 15 days and France with 11. The Netherlands comes in 9th with two days. In Austria, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States, new fathers don’t get any leave days.

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands: speed cameras that cause traffic jams to be scrapped in the Netherlands

Speed cameras in the Netherlands might be there to encourage motorists to keep to the limit, but they actually cause traffic jams.

The Dutch transport ministry and police admit drivers often slam on the brakes when they see speed cameras, and the knock-on effect leads to more traffic. So from this week the new protocol is that when there is a danger of a queue, police will put away the speed cameras.

[People] brake, and that frequently has a domino effect on the drivers who are behind them,” Alfred van Beilen, an operations expert at the Dutch police, told NOS news. “That can in the end lead to traffic jams.”

He admitted that in the past “poor communication” meant speed cameras were left in place too long and said that the new protocol would help the roads run better in the Netherlands’ flat countryside.

The Dutch are tough on motorists who break the speed limit, with some of the highest traffic fines in Europe.
 
Read more: Speed cameras that cause traffic jams to be scrapped in the Netherlands | Motoring News | Lifestyle | The Independent

Netherlands-Iran: Dutch begin looking for trade opportunities in Iran - by Janene Pieters

Now that the economic sanctions against Iran are lifted, Dutch companies are starting to look for trade opportunities with the Middle Eastern country. Although Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign trade warns that companies will still face obstacles in Iran, there is much expectation for the opening of the market, broadcaster NOS reports.

“Iran’s economy is simply too large to ignore, with the oil, gas and financial reserves”, former ambassador in Tehran and business consultant Ronald Mollinger said to the broadcaster.

Iran was an important trading partner for the Netherlands in the past. In 2009 and 2010 the Netherlands imported nearly a billion euros in mineral resources from the country. Exports to Iran amounted to almost 600 million euros. But the economic sanctions against the country put a stop to this. Now that the sanctions are lifted – even though part of them were only conditionally lifted – there is a great desire to strengthen those bonds again, according to NOS.

Iran has the second largest gas reserves and the fourth largest oil reserves in the world. There are also many opportunities for the agricultural industry and water management.

Shell already indicated that it wants to return to the country. Dredging company Boscalis showed interest in building ports in Iran. Greenhouse builder Van der Hoeven already explored possibilities of becoming active in the Iranian agricultural sector.

Minister Ploumen of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation warns that companies should not expect to immediately and without problems set up shop in Iran. “It will take some time before Iran is reconnected to the international payment traffic”, she said to NOS.



 “A number of sanctions that were proclaimed in the past due to human rights violations in Iran also remain intact. It will therefore give limitations.” She also warned that the sanctions can be put back in place if the country does not cut back on its nuclear activities as agreed with the international community.



Read more Dutch begin looking for trade opportunities in Iran - NL Times

Political Revolution?: The People Have Woken Up - Political Establishment in Europe And US Is In Trouble - by RM

French revolution 1789 until 1799

When you look at it closely there really is not much difference today between the EU and US when measuring the  public opinion in both areas as to how their ruling political establishment is perceived.

Polls show they both consider them unreliable and "in the pocket" of  private interest groups and lobbyists.

In a way this reaction is also a refreshing development. Slowly but surely in both America and in many countries around Europe people are waking up to the fact that many politicians within their political establishment, on both the left and the right, are not really representing the people who elected them anymore, but rather their own interests.

In fact, most of the polls taken on this issue seem to indicate that many voters now feel that they have been completely sold out by their political elite.

They are also angry about the steady takeover of their liberties by unregulated global corporate forces, and the fact that their elected Governments are doing very little to stop it.

Hence we see the rise of  a new breed of somewhat unorthodox people successfully entering the political arena in the US - like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Same is happening in Europe, with the likes of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Marie Le Pen in France, Nigel Farage in Britain, Victor Orban in Hungary, Alexis Tsipras in Greece, and .Pablo Iglesias in Spain, to mention just a few.

Could this be the beginning of a total shake-up and possibly even a peoples revolution changing the existing "fault-lines" of today's political and economic structures in both the USA and the EU ?

It looks like the party has only just begun.

EU-Digest

Netherlands Politics: Populist Wilders Says EU Is Finished as He Leads Dutch Polls - by Corina Ruhe and Celeste Perri

Geert Wilders

The European Union is teetering, and Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders wants to tip it over the edge.

Wilders, 52, whose party leads opinion polls with calls to close Dutch borders to refugees, pledged to immediately pull the Netherlands out of the 28-nation EU should he become prime minister in elections due in March next year. The EU is unraveling and that’s to be encouraged, he said, urging the U.K. to quit the bloc in its forthcoming referendum.

“We are not sovereign any more; we are not even allowed to form our own immigration policy or even close our borders and I would do that,” Wilders said Thursday in an interview in the Dutch parliament building in The Hague. “I would wish the Dutch to be more like Switzerland. In the heart of Europe, but not in the European Union.”

A household name in the Netherlands since 2004, when he split from the mainstream Liberal party to form his own on an anti-Islam platform, the bouffant-haired blond has enjoyed a swell of support as voters grow increasingly alarmed at the arrival in Europe of more than a million refugees from Syria and elsewhere.

The latest poll showed him winning the most parliamentary seats -- as many as Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals won in 2012 -- if elections were held now.

After years of turbulence surrounding Greek membership of the euro, the focus of uncertainty in the EU has shifted to Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron is set to call a referendum as early as June on whether the U.K. should stay in or leave. Wilders said he “hopes” Britons will opt to quit, with a knock-on effect on the Netherlands.

Note Almere Digest: Geert Wilders has never shown how he will carry out his plans in case he succeeds to pull the Netherlands out of the EU. 

He is a danger to the long-term economic, political and social stability of the Netherlands. His motto so well put by the French is : "Après moi, le déluge". 

Read more: Populist Wilders Says EU Is Finished as He Leads Dutch Polls - Bloomberg Business

The Netherlands: Prime Minister Rutte to Visit Silicon Valley January 31 through February 2

Dutch PM Mark Rutte

Prime Minister Mark Rutte will travel to California January 31 through February 2 with Special Envoy for StartupDelta Neelie Kroes to meet major tech companies, startup entrepreneurs, and knowledge institutes in and around Silicon Valley.

The Netherlands and the US are front-runners of innovation. With its large tech companies, startups, and leading universities, Silicon Valley is the most innovative region in the world. Collaborating with companies and knowledge institutes in Silicon Valley creates great opportunities for the Netherlands.

Many companies in Silicon Valley have located a part of their European activities in the Netherlands. Also, an increasing number of Dutch companies are active in Silicon Valley. The Netherlands and California are already working closely together as they target climate change, agriculture, and the global promotion of clean and smart transportation.

For additional details on the trip contact: Ilse van Overveld, 202-274-2630, or Carla Bundy, 202-274-2632, in Washington, DC,

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands - culture: How China Conquered the Dutch - by NINA SIEGAL

In 1558, a single Portuguese trading ship returning from Asia carried 1,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain. A Dutch ship making the same journey 50 years later brought 60,000 pieces. And by 1638, about 900,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain were transported via Dutch trading vessels.

In the span of one century, the fine, thin, white ceramics made from a clay called kaolin and fired in blazing hot kilns went from being a unique treasure for a handful of wealthy European connoisseurs to a common household item, especially in the Netherlands.

Today, this porcelain is known in everyday English usage as china, and as early as the 17th century it was already being copied throughout Europe.

How did china and other Asian commodities, such as Japanese lacquer chests, Ceylonese ivory cabinets and Indian silks, first come to the Western world, and what impact did the European appreciation for them have on the kinds of products that were produced? These are the questions raised in “Asia in Amsterdam,” an exhibition that opened at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum on Oct. 17 and runs until Jan. 17, when it will move to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.

 Read more: How China Conquered the Dutch - The New York Times

Germany - gadget leasing: ByeBuy Raises €1M To Make It Easier To Switch Gadgets - by Steve O'Hear

 German startup ByeBuy, which offers a pay-as-you-go and on-demand alternative to gadget ownership, has raised a €1 million seed round. Backers include Commerzbank subsidiary Main Incubator, in addition to Rocket Internet’s venture arm Global Founders Capital, Hannover Innovation Fund, KRW Schindler Investments, and previous investor Seedcamp.

The new capital will be used for a planned U.S expansion, as well as finding new ways to power what ByeBuy CEO and founder Michael Cassau, who was previously at Goldman Sachs and Rocket Internet, calls the “switching economy”. This will include partnering with online and offline retailers to offer ByeBuy as a checkout option.

Just as you don’t have to own a car to drive one, the startup wants to make gadget ownership a thing of the past, providing consumers with the option to consume the latest tech on a monthly rental basis with the advantage that they can switch or ‘upgrade’ at any time.

“We offer people the opportunity to enjoy their favourite items on a fully flexible pay-as-you-go basis and remove the high implicit and explicit cost of accessing cool products,” Cassau told TechCrunch back in June.

Since then ByeBuy has ratcheted up around 1,000 members and is available in 4 countries: U.K., Germany, Netherlands and Austria. It now lists 200 or so products on its site and Cassau says the startup is seeing “very strong traction across all asset classes,” citing the Apple Watch, iPhones, and MacBooks, along with the PS4/Xbox, e-health/fitness trackers and cameras as particularly strong products.

More interesting is the possibility of ByeBuy’s model being offered at online retailers and even traditional brick ‘n’ mortar stores. “This means for example you can see us soon as a payment alternative at your favourite consumer tech ecommerce store, where, in addition to credit card and PayPal, you may see ByeBuy as a new checkout option,” explains Cassau.

“A monthly price without any commitment instead of buying or committing to 3-year financings. We step in and buy it for you so you don’t you have to. Switch and send back at any time.”

Read more: ByeBuy Raises €1M To Make It Easier To Switch Gadgets | TechCrunch

The Netherlands: Rotterdam Islamic University under fire again after lecturer attacks Kurds - by Janene Pieters

Ahmet Akgunduz, the rector at the Islamic University of Rotterdam, has once again caused an uproar with hateful remarks about political opponents. This time he said that he is praying for those responsible for the recent bombing in the Turkish capital and called the Kurds “dogs”.

On his twitter account Akgunduz wrote a series of tweets including that he is “praying for the heroes who are exterminating the dogs that dig ditches”. Erik-Jan Zurcher, a professor of Turkish language and culture in Leiden, explained the tweet to Dutch newspaper AD. “With ‘dogs’ Akgunduz is referring to the Kurdish youth who dig trenches to defend themselves in southeastern Turkey against the army.” he said to the newspaper. The “heroes” are the bombers. “So he is praying for the salvation of the bombers.”

The VVD has had enough. “It can’t go on like this”, parliamentarian Pieter Duisenberg said to the newspaper. He can’t understand how the Akgunduz can be in charge of an institution that educates Dutch students. “He is working on segregation instead of seeking a connection with the Netherlands. How can a school with this man as figurehead still have the approval of the Dutch government?”

In July the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, already wanted the RUI’s accreditation withdrawn. This can only be done if the quality of education at the university is inadequate. Accreditation board NAVO ruled that there is nothing wrong with the quality of education and that the accreditation will remain in tact.

Education Minister Jet Bussemaker currently has a legislative proposal in front of the Council of State that would giver her the power to intervene at institutions that do not comply with the order to social responsibility. “Once the law is in force, I will not hesitate to use its power”, the Minister said.

This is not the first time that Akgunduz is under fire for hateful statements. In June, just before the recent elections in Turkey, the rector called on Turkish people to vote for the right-wing AK party on his Facebook profile. “Do not vote for gay and Armenians”, he wrote. In January last year, Duisenberg also called for the IUR’s accreditation to be withdrawn after a comment that could be interpreted as permission to commit violence. In 2013 Akgunduz called protesters against the Turkish government wicked and supporters of Assad, who kill Muslims. 

Note Almere-Digest: when will the Dutch Government actually do something about Ahmet Akgunduz and take away his accreditation, instead of just talking about it?

Read more: Islamic University under fire again after lecturer attacks Kurds - NL Times

Netherlands Judiciary: Poorly regulated debt collection agencies in the Netherlands are out of control

Dutch consumers who find themselves in a debt collection process are harassed  by the debt collectors, who are poorly regulated by the Dutch judicial system, and usually end up deeper in debt.

This shocking finding has become evident from an analysis made by the Dutch Consumer Association ( Nederlandse Consumentenbond) of complaints they received at their "Debt Complain Center hotline" which was opened in the spring of this year

On this Hotline more than 200 personal, often deeply disturbing and emotional stories, have disclosed how inhumane people are treated .

The Consumers Association says the situation is totally out of control and Bart Combée, Director of the Dutch consumer association says: “the human dimension in this process is completely lost.

If consumers want to contact the collection agency, they often get no answer or the door slammed in their face. If the collection train runs once, he can not stop it, otherwise, than by paying”.

The most common complaints about the Dutch debt collection processes are rapidly increasing and not clearly specified costs. Threatening letters about wage garnishment, foreclosure sales or lawsuits. Even if the debt collection agencies are not empowered to do so, or when it only concerns a debt of a few euro's.

The Consumer Association wants the Judiciary to establish clear and precise regulations concerning the procedures to be followed by Dutch collection agencies and want the Judiciary to firmly intervene when collection agencies violate these rules. It also recommends that companies, collection agencies and bailiffs should be more accessible and willing to offer more customization to the process.

It also wants to see that the intimidating behavior of the collection agencies be addressed immediately..

Bart Combée, Director of the Consumer association says: 'The human dimension is lost. If consumers want to contact the collection agency, they often get no answer or the door slammed in their face.

Once the collection train starts running, it wont stop, otherwise than by paying, usually a lot more than you expected. Even if you dispute a claim. "

Some claims are even based on debts made by deceased  parents of the people who received the claim under one of the many archaic and outdated laws still on the books in the Netherlands including those labelled under hereditary responsibilities. 

 

The Dutch Consumer Agency also wants the Netherlands parliament to intervene in this matter.

Almere-Digest

Netherlands Company Introduces Plastic Roads That Are More Durable, Climate Friendly Than Asphalt - by Katie Valentine

The Netherlands is already home to the world’s first solar road (or bike lane, technically). Now, the country could soon be the first to use recycled plastic as pavement.

The idea for plastic roads comes from VolkerWessels, a Netherlands-based construction firm. According to the company, plastic roads would be a “virtually maintenance free product” that’s “unaffected by corrosion and the weather.” The roads could handle temperatures as low as -40°F and as high as 176°F.

The company says that this hardiness will make the roads’ lifespans three times as long as typical asphalt roads.

According to the company, any type of recycled plastic can be used. The main goal, the company says, is to keep plastic out of the oceans.

The idea for plastic roads came after the company took a look at all the different road-related problems cities face, said Simon Jorritsma from InfraLinq, a subdivision of VolkerWessels and KWS Infra that works specifically with asphalt. Those problems included a future where oil — the main component of asphalt — is less available, as well as more immediate problems like flooding and road maintenance.

“For contractors, asphalt is a great and sound product to build roads,” Jorritsma said in an email to ThinkProgress. “However, contractors have to meet more and more demands concerning noise reduction, water permeability, and flatness. These questions and conditions were the inspiration which have led to the idea of the PlasticRoad.”

Read more: Netherlands Company Introduces Plastic Roads That Are More Durable, Climate Friendly Than Asphalt | ThinkProgress

The Netherlands: Dutch economy fully recovers from financial crisis - by Janene Van Jaarsveldt

By the end of this year the Dutch gross domestic product is expected to top the real level seen in 2008 for the first time since the financial crisis. This is according to De Nederlandsche Bank’s latest half-yearly forecast, which was published on Monday.

According to the forecast, the Dutch economy will grow a projected 2 percent this year, the highest figure recorded since 2008. The bank expects that the Dutch economy will, on average, maintain this growth pace in 2016 and 2017, which means that the economic activity will develop more favorably than previously foreseen.

Exports remains the driving force behind the economic growth. The bank expects that the international environment will improve further, partly due to the depreciation of the euro, low level of oil prices and a pick-up in world trade growth.

Domestic spending will also contribute to economic growth – a development unseen since 2011. Private consumption will show a significant increase of 2 percent this year, for the first time since the credit crisis broke out. This can be attributed to a strong increase in real disposable income and improved sentiment.

Read more: Dutch economy fully recovers from financial crisis - NL Times

Islam and Liberals: Maher to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Why Do Liberals ‘Blame the Victim’ When It Comes to Islam?

Bill Maher spoke with Ayaan Hirsi Ali last night about a recurring topic of his, radical Islam, and spent quite a lot talking about liberal reactions to it.

Maher brought up how liberals have targeted Hirsi Ali and may have also had the Muhammad cartoon contest on the brain when he asked why so many liberals, who normally “hate blaming the victim,” do so when it comes to radical Islam.Hirsi Ali said she’s not sure why liberals do that, and Maher argued that liberals also try to justify so much in a culture that’s decidedly illiberal.

Maher alluded to liberals he “used to respect” who keep arguing with him on this issue, rebutting the suggestion that there are other Muslim nations which are basically “bastions of freedom and democracy.”

He told Hirsi Ali that liberals just don’t understand that the position the two of them are taking is the liberal one. Hirsi Ali agreed that what radical Muslims do is an “assault on liberalism.”

Read more and view the TV interview : Maher to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Why Do Liberals ‘Blame the Victim’ When It Comes to Islam? | Mediaite

EU Tourism Sector: The tourism industry is 'make or break' for the EU economy - by Ana-Claudia Tapardel

Batavia Stad, Flevoland, the Netherlands

What would you do on your holiday? Would you relax of the beach of a Greek island? Perhaps you would go skiing in the French Alps, or hiking in the Carpathians? How about a cruise along the Danube delta? Or maybe a wine tour in the Douro valley? What about a shopping spree at the huge discount store complex in Batavia Stad, Flevoland Province,  in the Netherlands.

These activities are only a small portion of what Europe has to offer its domestic and international visitors. In fact, its diversity in art, landscapes, food and traditions have all helped make it the world's top tourist destination. From Bucharest to Lisbon, Europe's great variety in terms of scenery, services, cultures and people is unrivalled.

And the economic return from the tourism sector speaks for itself: prior to the accession of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, tourism accounted for 13 per cent of the EU's GDP. Nowadays, tourism represents 10 per cent of the European economy. The tourism sector employs approximately 5.2 per cent of the total workforce - roughly 10 million jobs - and involves almost two million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Yet while the tourism sector provides many opportunities to Europe, it is also faced with many challenges. These are mainly related to changes in global trends and increasing competition with non-European countries, particularly in Asia and North America.

For Europe to be competitive and continue attracting both EU and non EU citizens, we first need a defined strategy that will not only take into consideration new global trends, but will also bring together the main institutional actors (the parliament, the commission and the council), as well as the relevant stakeholders in the field.

In this context, I would like to point out that members of parliament's European tourism development, cultural heritage, way of St James and other European cultural routes intergroup - which I co-chair - is actively pushing for the revision and update of the commission's 2010 communication titled, 'Europe, the world's number one tourist destination'.

In order for us to achieve our goals, we must ensure that the European tourism sector and its actors receive the attention they deserve. In my opinion, one way to give the sector the boost it needs is by designating a 'European year for tourism'.

Read more: The tourism industry is 'make or break' for the EU economy | The Parliament Magazine

The Netherlands: Finding a new job heads up list of Dutch New Year resolutions

Finding a new job is a new entrant in the top five Dutch New Year resolutions, according to research by financial services group ING. Losing weight remains top of the list with 13%, followed by less stress (9%) and doing more sport (7%). Finding a new job is in equal fourth place with taking more exercise – both on 5%.

However, despite the good intentions, just one in four people manage to keep their resolutions for an entire year. In addition, 22% of the 1,300 plus people polled by ING don’t make any New Year resolutions at all.

Almere-Digest

Finding a new job is a new entrant in the top five Dutch New Year resolutions, according to research by financial services group ING. Losing weight remains top of the list with 13%, followed by less stress (9%) and doing more sport (7%). Finding a new job is in equal fourth place with taking more exercise – both on 5%.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: Finding a new job enters Dutch New Year resolution list http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/12/finding-a-new-job-is-new-in-top-dutch-new-year-resolution-list.php/

'Nederlanders willen ziekenfonds terug' - privatisering kost belastingbetaler altijd meer geld

60 procent van de Nederlanders wil de zorgverzekeraars afschaffen en in plaats daarvan een publieke
basisverzekering invoeren. Dat blijkt uit een peiling die de SP heeft laten uitvoeren.

De regerings partij VVD voelt weinig voor het SP-plan. En dat terwijl uit de peiling blijkt dat een meerderheid van de VVD-stemmers ook voor afschaffing is.

Read more: 'Nederlanders willen ziekenfonds terug' | RTL Nieuws

Meat Products - Russia to hold talks with EU Commission on illegal imports of European meat

Russian veterinary standards officials will hold urgent talks with the European Commission on illegal supplies of European meat to Russia, the country's veterinary regulator said on Monday.

“We have asked for a meeting in Brussels considering large-scale issues connected with uncontrolled movement of meat products of unknown origin across EU territories,” Sergey Dankvert, head of the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary service Rosselkhoznadzor, told TASS.

Negotiations between Bernard Van Goethem, director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, and Rosselkhoznadzor Deputy Head Yevgeny Nepoklonov will take place on October 28, Dankvert said.

Last week, the Russian regulator busted major supplies of European pork to Russia declared as juices, vegetables and mushrooms.

“These supplies passed customs clearance in the European Union. The content of containers is under the direct responsibility of EU veterinary services, which we see do not exercise any control and promote smuggling,” Dankvert said then, noting that container checks had halted supplies of around 360 tonnes of frozen pork from Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil. Deliveries were declared as juices, vegetables, jams and chewing gum, he said.

Read more: TASS: Economy - Russia to hold talks with EU Commission on illegal imports of European meat

EU Personal Privacy Rights: Google Has Received Nearly 145,000 Requests to Be 'Forgotten' - by Brendan Sasso

Thousands of Europeans are scrambling to take advantage of a new legal right to force Google to delete search results about them.

Since the process began several months ago, Google has received 144,954 requests to delete 497,695 pages from its search engine, the company revealed in a report Friday.

But Google actually rejected most of the requests under the "right to be forgotten." The company granted 41.8 percent of the requests to scrub links.

Facebook was the most common site that people tried to hide from search results, followed by profileengine.com, a site that archives social-media information. Google's own YouTube came in third.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were the top sources of requests to delete links, according to the report. 

"We believe it's important to be transparent about how much information we're removing from search results while being respectful of individuals who have made requests," Jess Hemerly, a public policy manager at Google, said in a blog post. "Releasing this information to the public helps hold us accountable for our process and implementation."

The top European court ruled in May that companies must delete "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant" pages. The ruling was based on Europe's privacy laws, which are much more expansive than those in the U.S. People argued they shouldn't be haunted for their whole lives by embarrassing Web pages.

Note EU-Digest: one of the many benefits of being part of the EU

Read more: Google Has Received Nearly 145,000 Requests to Be 'Forgotten' - NationalJournal.com