EU Presidency: The Netherlands: Dutch have a special responsibility meeting Global Goals - by Tamira Gunzburg

The Dutch Presidency of the EU-  01 through 06-2016

In 2015, the world made the biggest ever promise to itself. World leaders adopted the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development that will help us tackle problems like extreme poverty, hunger and climate change. The deadline they set themselves is the year 2030.

Now, as 2016 gets underway, the question can no longer be postponed. How will we go about implementing these goals, which apply to North and South alike? The only way to hit the ambitious deadline is to start full throttle.

To anyone who has had anything to do with the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, the constraint of limited time and the need to hit the ground running will not be new. Least of all for those who just kicked off their 12th Presidency for the next six months.

But there is another reason why the Dutch would do well to waste no time in charting the path for the Global Goals. Their next Presidency will most probably be around 2030, when the final appraisal will be made on whether or not the world has managed to end extreme poverty and hunger, as our current leaders have set out to do.

In order to ensure that they, and all of us, can shine at that moment, here are a few priorities the Dutch Presidency can act upon right now.

Europe is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two, due to protracted insecurity and destitution in Syria and across parts of Africa and Asia. The influx is projected to continue to rise into 2016. With the political distance between certain European Member States still wide, the Presidency will have to work hard to build a strong EU position that transcends domestic interests. The Dutch government has rightly identified migration and international security as one of the key priorities of their Presidency.

Refugees must be afforded protection and their needs and rights met as a matter of urgency. Yet, several Member States are yielding to the temptation to finance these costs by raiding their aid budgets. Others are even trying to pass off more security, military and intelligence operations as aid. And we are already seeing aid shift away from the poorest countries: in 2014, global aid to the least developed countries fell by 4.6% compared to 2013. That’s a decrease of €1.45 billion to those who need it most.

The Dutch Presidency will need to keep its eye on the prize and ensure that Member States protect refugees without diverting international aid. The EU has already shown that it is possible to do both: its 2016 budget increased funding for both the refugee crisis and development aid simultaneously. This is the kind of leadership the Dutch should take forward.

Of course, it is not all about aid. On average, overseas development aid is a small flow compared to developing countries’ domestic resources. However, these countries still lose at least $1 trillion every year through illicit financial flows, including tax evasion. Stopping this haemorrhage could unleash unprecedented funds for development and reduce pressure on donor countries’ squeezed budgets.

Transparency is key here. Shining a light on the payments between companies and governments and on companies’ tax practices would allow citizens in poor countries to follow the money and ensure their governments spend it responsibly. The EU has already passed ground-breaking legislation to oblige oil and mining companies to publish payments they have made to governments abroad, and transparency in this sector has led to increased social spending in a number of cases. Banks, too, have started reporting their taxes on a country-by-country basis.

The Netherlands was central to passing that legislation back in 2013, and now finds itself chairing the very institution that is scheduled to examine several proposals over the coming months that aim to do the same, but this time for other economic sectors. Obliging large multinationals to confidentially report their tax information per country is already happening. By pushing for the information to be made available to the public, the Presidency can ensure developing countries also benefit.

In a world where the Global Goals will not be met with aid alone, unlocking funds with this win-win legislation is precisely the kind of innovative manoeuvre the Dutch should lead on.

Read more: The Dutch have a special responsibility with the Global Goals | EurActiv

Data Collection: Vestager says EU will eye 'big data' concerns in merger probes

The European Union plans to take a harder look at whether the collection of vast troves of consumer data by big internet companies violates competition rules, competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday (17 January).

"If just a few companies control the data you need to satisfy customers and cut costs, then you can give them the power to just drive rivals out of the market," Vestager told a conference of top European and US entrepreneurs and investors.

"If we analyse a merger, if we have a suspicion or concern when it comes to antitrust, if it comes to data, of course we will look at it," she said in a speech at an annual digital innovation conference in Munich. "It may be a competition problem."

Since taking over as Europe's top antitrust enforcer in 2014, Vestager has stepped up investigations into US web giants such as Google and Amazon to decide whether her agency should regulate them more tightly.

Vestager acknowledged that protecting consumer privacy goes beyond her agency's competition remit.

But she put online companies on notice that the vast power they exercise in online marketing and commerce should not make it too difficult for smaller businesses to compete in those areas.

"If a company's use of data is so bad for competition that it outweighs the benefit, then you may have to step in to restore the level playing field," she said of her role.

Read more: Vestager says EU will eye 'big data' concerns in merger probes | EurAct

GMO Labeling Endorsed by US Physicians but blocked by Chemical Industry Lobby - Ten Reason to avoid them

Is the Industry Lobby Bamboozling you about GMO's?

Even as the federal government pursues H.R. 1599, aka the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” (DARK) act, mainstream medicine is urging the government to abandon its resistance to GMO (genetically modified organism) labeling. 

They are bolstered by a recent announcement by the World Health Organization that glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer) is probably carcinogenic in humans. The genetic engineering ends up making crops resistant to the herbicide so more must be applied.

According to contributing doctors from Harvard, Mt. Sinai Medical Center and the University of Wisconsin reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, “GM crops are now the agricultural products most heavily treated with herbicides, and two of these herbicides may pose risks of cancer.”

A recent notice in the same journal, “GMOs, Herbicides and Public Health,” reports: “The application of biotechnology to agriculture has been rapid and aggressive. The vast majority of the soy and [feed] corn grown in the United States are now genetically engineered. Foods produced from GM crops have become ubiquitous.”

Sixty-four countries, including Russia and China, have already adopted transparency in labeling laws, but U.S. Big Food and Big Ag lobbyists have stonewalled efforts domestically.\

EU representatives at the EU-US Trade Negotiations (TTIP) hopefully will not let this issue be swiped off the table by the American delegation.  As it is well known that the political establishment in the US Congress is very much influenced by the US Chemical and food Industry Lobby, which includes corporate giants like Monsanto, Dow Chemicals, Syngenta, Tyson, ADM and Cargill..

To put this in an order of magnitude: ADM and Cargill now control 65% of the world's trade in grain. Monsanto and Syngenta control 20% of the $60-billion market in bio-engineered seeds.

The EU better be aware that this US corporate lobby campaign to "patent nature" and control the world's food supply has been very successful,  Today, 85% of US corn is genetically engineered.

And if you need more convincing: Ten Reasons to avoid  GMO's  - Europe does not need GMO's

EU-Digest 

Overfishing: Marine Life Drops by Half since 1970

Floating Fish Processing ship

The nonprofit World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London have jointly determined that ind
ustrial-scale overfishing, pollution and climate change have killed half of all marine life over the last 40 years.

The Living Blue Planet Report cites that species essential to the global food supply are among the hardest hit, partially due to humans catching them faster than they can reproduce. Large swaths of coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses have also died, further decimating fish populations.

Statistics show that the family of fish that includes tuna and mackerel has declined by 75 percent since 1970. The number of species is also declining; a quarter of all shark and ray species face extinction. Half of all coral has already disappeared, and the rest will vanish by 2050 if temperatures continue to rise at current rates.

“Coral reefs occupy less than 1 percent of the ocean surface, but they harbor a third of ocean species,” says French biologist Gilles Boeuf.

The WWF report argues that protected global ocean area should be tripled by 2020 and fish retailers should source from companies that follow certified best practice standards.

EU-Digest

Wealth: Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016 - "time to fire our political representatives"

The combined wealth of the richest 1 percent will overtake that of the other 99 percent of people next year unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked, Oxfam warned today ahead of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

The international agency, whose executive director Winnie Byanyima will co-chair the Davos event, warned that the explosion in inequality is holding back the fight against global poverty at a time when 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat and more than a billion people still live on less than $1.25-a-day.

Byanyima will use her position at Davos to call for urgent action to stem this rising tide of inequality, starting with a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations, and to push for progress towards a global deal on climate change.

Wealth: Having It All and Wanting More, a research paper published today by Oxfam, shows that the richest 1 percent have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014 and at this rate will be more than 50 percent in 2016. Members of this global elite had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult in 2014.

Of the remaining 52 percent of global wealth, almost all (46 percent) is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world’s population. The other 80 percent share just 5.5 percent and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult – that’s 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1 percent.

Note Almere-Digest: Hope our politicians are reading this because they have completely failed on a local and global scale to remedy this ever increasing global problem. Finger pointing to others for this disaster is not acceptable.

Read more: Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016 | Oxfam International

Life resuscitation: Animal brought back to life from 30-year deep freeze

More than one human -- deceased baseball star Ted Williams, for example -- has wondered whether freezing your body when you die might allow you to be revived in the future.

Perhaps Japanese scientists are beginning to find an answer.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, researchers at Japan's National Institute of Polar Research have resuscitated two tardigrades -- sometimes known as waterbears or moss piglets -- from a 30.5-year deep freeze.

It seems odd that animal-namers can't decide whether these tiny eight-legged creatures look more like pigs or bears. I'm going with waterbears.

The researchers first collected two waterbears in 1983 from an Antarctican moss sample. They then stored them at minus-20 degrees C (roughly minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit). They defrosted them in 2014.

After defrosting, it took one of the waterbears 29 days to return to what the researchers described as a normal condition. The other died after 20 days.

Perhaps when they do, we will learn something about the prospects for reviving humans. Or perhaps waterbears are simply special beings. And we're not.

Read more: Animal brought back to life from 30-year deep freeze

Population Decrease: Across Europe, more people are dying than being born - by Olivia Goldhill

Demographers have a name for when a population has more deaths than births: “Natural decrease.” It’s rarely discussed because “it is unusual in the modern era,” according to a recent research paper, but that’s about to change as natural decrease is becoming increasingly common across Europe, and in many parts of the United States.

In an article published in December’s issue of Population and Development Review, authors led by Kenneth Johnson of University of New Hampshire note that, “In Europe today there is virtually no overall population growth from natural increase.” There is only one country—Kosovo—with a population that is naturally growing by more than 1% per year.

By contrast, 17 European countries are experiencing natural decrease, including Russia, Germany and Italy. After analyzing census data from 2000 to 2010, the authors conclude:

“Deaths exceeded births in most counties of Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, as well as in Sweden and the Baltic states. Farther south, natural decrease was also occurring in the majority of the counties of Greece, Portugal, and Italy.”

Natural decrease doesn’t mean a country is in danger of dying out completely, but it can create major economic difficulties. A declining population will tend to grow older, leaving fewer people in the workforce. As the proportion of old people rises, younger workers must pay a higher tax burden to pay for higher retirement, pension, and healthcare costs.

Read more: Across Europe, more people are dying than being born - Quartz