The Netherlands Economy: Vice crime pumps over €2.5 billion into Netherlands economy - by Janene Pieters

Criminal activities involving drugs, illegal prostitution, illegal gambling and similar crimes contribute about 2.7 billion euros to the Netherlands’ economy a year. That means that criminal activities account for about 0.4 percent of the Dutch economy, according to an estimate by Statistics Netherlands at the request of broadcaster RTL.

The estimated value of the criminal economy was 2.6 billion in 2010, which means that the growth does not seem to be very strong. Though Statistic Netherlands emphasizes that it should be noted that it is very difficult to make a reliable estimate.

According to Statistics Netherlands’ estimates, the added value of drugs and illegal prostitution increased somewhat, while money earned by illegal downloads providers decreased. Previous calculations showed that drug production and -trade accounts for 55 percent of the criminal economy, followed by prostitution with 21 percent. Illegal downloads and illegal gambling accounts for about 9 percent.

Read more: Vice crime pumps over €2.5 billion into Netherlands economy - NL Times

The Netherlands: Almere, Europe's most "avant-garde" multi-cultural city celebrating it's 40th birthday

From the moment of its establishment in 1976, Almere has been one of the fastest growing cities in Europe.

Initially developed as a suburban area east of Amsterdam, it has become one of Europe's most impressive new modern multi-cultural cities.

 During the past 36 years, it has also become the home of some 200,000 residents and 18.000 businesses.

Almere is the largest city in the Province of Flevoland and now also the seventh largest city in the Netherlands.

A Facebook page  (unfortunately in Dutch only) is commemorating this event. the whole year, until the exact date (November 30)  when  Almere's first settlers arrived, many years ago.

The Facebook page also  illustrates many of the important facts and events that took place during the 40 years since Almere became one of the fastest growing and most modern multi-cultural European cities.

Over the years, as the city developed  it also quickly got the reputation of being one of Europe's, architecturally, most "avant-garde cities".

Obviously this made Almere also a very attractive city for architecture students to visit.

If Dutch is not your maternal language, there are also numerous other websites containing information about Almere - its corporate sector, its sustainability, the facilities and opportunities that residents, businesses and institutions alike have by being established in Almere.

The following sites might be a good place to start looking:  Chamber of Commerce,  World Trade Center Almere, VVV Almere, The City of Almere, Almere Sun Island, Wikipedia Almere, Floriade 2022 - Growing Green Cities, Almere-Digest,

Mayor, Mr. Franc Weerwind

A friendly welcoming city, from its Mayor, Mr. Franc Weerwind, to all the city's residents.

It all seems to be happening in Almere.!

Almere-Digest 

EU Car Industry Goes Electric and prices are dropping: Netherlands looks to ban all non-electric cars by 2025 - by S. Hinckley

VW E-GOLF Electric

By 2025, the Netherlands may only allow electric vehicles on the road.

A majority of elected officials in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, supported a motion proposed by the Labor Party (PvdA) to ban all diesel and petroleum cars from the Dutch market starting in 2025. If enacted, this proposal would allow existing fossil fuel-powered cars to stay on the road until they died, but when it comes to new sales, only electric cars would be permitted.

"We are ambitious, perhaps other parties are less so," PvdA leader Diederik Samsom told the local NL Times.

Renault Zoe  - Electric

While it is still unclear whether or not the motion will pass, some electric enthusiasts see the proposal as progress all the same. This law would not only affect Dutch drivers, but would also require more electric vehicle output from car manufacturers, and potentially destigmatize electric vehicles as a niche purchase.

"One big thing that's preventing more people from buying [electric cars] is awareness – people just don't know about them," Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America, tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview Thursday. "It is a pretty big shift for how you think about your car."

Fiat -500 Electric

But this proposal doesn't mean that the Netherlands is a model of energy efficiency – yet. Rather, it's one of the most carbon-intensive countries in the European Union, according to a 2015 study by Deloitte. Natural gas and petroleum make up the majority of the Netherland's energy resources at 41 and 42 percent respectively, with solid fuels coming in third at 10 percent and finally renewable energies making up five percent of the overall energy mix.

In 2012, the transportation sector consumed the most energy of all sources, constituting 29 percent of all consumption in the Netherlands.

In the United States, by comparison, transportation represents 27 percent of the country's consumption, according to a 2015 report from the Energy Information Administration.

BMW -i3 Electric

This isn't the first time that the Netherlands has announced an ambitious energy-saving goal in transportation technology.

The Dutch energy company Eneco, partnering with VIVENS rail companies, announced a plan in 2015 to make a fleet of trains powered entirely by wind energy within the next three years. And for almost a year now, the Netherlands has boasted the world's first solar road, a bike path made of solar panels that generates enough electricity to power a small home for a year.

The Netherlands has also announced plans to pave roads with recycled plastic, which they market as durable and low maintenance, with a smaller environmental impact than asphalt production.

Mercedes B-Class Electric

And while these proposals may be more experimental, advocates say electric vehicles have real potential.
"For people who are aware [of electric cars], there are a few myths," Mr. Levin says. Primarily, many people have the misconception that electric vehicles are expensive, slow, unsafe, and inconvenient.

"They are not fancy cars for rich people – there are many affordable ones. And if you compare apples to apples, the total coast of ownership is very competitive," he explains.

Along with these myths, there are also a lot of positives that gas or diesel-powered cars don't experience. "Apart from any environmental benefits, they are a pleasure to drive, there is tremendous power," he says. "And maintenance is low – there is no engine, so if you change the brakes and batteries, nothing really could go wrong."

Charging is easy, he adds; it can be done at home overnight. "People worry about running out of power, but the [drivers] that run out of power are the same ones that run out of gas."

Almere-digest

EU: Corruption costs EU ‘up to €990 billion a year’ – by Ryan Collin

EU Corruption costs: close to  € 1 trillion a year

The EU has a corruption problem that could cost it up to €990 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by the European Parliament and released on Monday.

Corruption in the EU comes in many forms and has multiple economic, social and political effects, according to the Cost of Non-Europe in the Area of Corruption Study by RAND Europe. Based on three scenarios using different methodologies that included both direct and indirect effects, the study found the EU suffers losses in its gross domestic product that range between €179 billion and €990 billion each year.

The figures are much higher than a 2014 estimate by the European Commission of €120 billion. However, the Commission’s study focused only on direct effects of corruption.

“Corruption is a big black hole at the heart of the European economy,” said Carl Dolan, director of Transparency International. “If companies see the public procurement process is rigged then they are not going to take part in that bid and therefore the public loses out because these aren’t competitive tenders.”

The study found that corruption related to public procurement was estimated to cost nearly €5 billion per year. Procurement corruption includes deliberately removing companies from the bidding process so there is only one viable candidate and limiting the amount of time a company has to respond to a tender for a new contract.

To reduce it, RAND Europe suggested that the EU implement a Union-wide e-procurement system, which would bring down the cost of corruption by an estimated €920 million. Another measure to cut corruption would be establishing a European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the study said. Such an office would investigate corruption cases and could reduce corruption costs by €0.2 billion per year.

Read more: Corruption costs EU ‘up to €990 billion a year’ – POLITICO

ROAD SAFETY : ‘Textalyzer’ Can Tell If You Were Texting and Driving- By Anthony Cuthbertson

Driving And Texting Is Dangerous

A new “Textalyzer” device that can determine if a driver was using a phone in the moments leading up to an accident may soon be used by police in New York.

The technology is being developed by Cellebrite, the Israeli startup reportedly employed by the FBI to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters responsible for 2015’s attack.

New York state Senator Terrence Murphy and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz proposed legislation that would allow police to use the device at the scene of an accident.

Read more: ‘Textalyzer’ Can Tell If You Were Texting and Driving

Turkey: The Press and "Erdowo, Erdowie, Erdogan": Turkey's Erdogan files case against German comedian

Angela Merkel please note: 
"when  playing with fire you risk to get burnt"

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a legal complaint against a German comedian who recited a satirical poem about him - an incident that has created a diplomatic headache for Angela Merkel.

The move on Tuesday came as a pact between the European Union and Turkey, which involves refugee and so-called economic migrant swaps, was being implemented in attempt to stop the flow of people to Europe.

In a March 31 television programme, Jan Boehmermann, the host of the late-night Neo Magazin Royale programme on public broadcaster ZDF, recited the poem with references to bestiality and accusations that the Turkish leader repressed minorities and mistreated Kurds and Christians.

The poem, seemingly a deliberate provocation by Boehmermann, has exploded into a diplomatic incident that pits freedoms championed by Western Europe against recent moves in Turkey that many in the West see as an attempt to silence opposition voices.

Merkel, asked about the case on Tuesday, tried to separate the two issues and stressed her commitment to freedom of expression.

"Turkey is bearing a very big burden in relation to the Syrian civil war but all of that is completely separate from Germany's fundamental values ... freedom of the press, opinion and science apply and are completely separate from that," she told reporters.

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully Mrs. Merkel is aware of the saying: " when playing with fire, you risk to get burnt"

EU-Digest/
    and     ALJAZEERA

EU Rule of Law Crises: Europe’s Rule-of-Law "obstructed by Hungary and Poland "- by Guy Verhofstadt

Rule of Law - one of the basic princiles of Democracy

From the rubble of two world wars, European countries came together to launch what would become the world’s largest experiment in unification and cooperative, shared sovereignty. But, despite its impressive achievements over the decades, the European project now risks disintegration.

An unresolved financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a deteriorating security environment, and a stalled integration process have created throughout Europe a toxic, unstable political environment in which populism and nationalism thrive. Perhaps the clearest manifestation of this is the erosion of the rule of law in the European Union.

Two EU members in particular, Hungary and Poland, are now jeopardizing hard-won European democratic norms – and thus undermining the very purpose of European integration.

In Hungary, liberal-democratic values have come under systematic attack from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Since his return to the premiership in 2010, Orbán has committed Hungary to an authoritarian nationalist path, and he has exploited the refugee crisis to cement a “siege mentality” that helps him sustain popular support.

In the process, fundamental rights have been ignored, media freed refugees have been demonized, and Orbán is doing everything in his power to weaken the EU. Attempts by EU institutions to convince Orbán to change course have only emboldened him to commit further outrages against democratic norms.

Meanwhile, a democratic crisis has emerged in Poland as well, starting last October, when the Law and Justice (PiS), a Euroskeptic party that also opposes immigration, secured an outright parliamentary majority by promising to implement populist economic policies and “put Poland first.” Yet, since the election, PiS has launched a series of attacks on the Polish constitution itself.

Government legislation aimed at reforming Poland’s Constitutional Court has been condemned by the Court itself and the European democracy watchdog, the Venice Commission. The government has effectively precluded the Court from ruling on the constitutionality of legislation. This weakens a key pillar of the democratic rule of law – and thus is highly problematic for Poland and Europe alike.

Hungary and Poland are the leading edge of a far-right agenda that has taken hold throughout Europe, pursued by parties that are exploiting the political vacuum created by the EU’s failure to address the financial and refugee crises. So how can the tables be turned?

In democratic countries, it is vital that democracy’s enemies be fought with democratic means. It is vital that the outside world impress on the Hungarian and Polish people themselves that in a globalized world, nationalism offers only false security and economic irrelevance. Both countries, at the heart of Europe, have profited enormously in every sense from EU membership; they must not throw away their opportunity to make further progress.

Hungarians and Poles rejected international isolation in 1989. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, both countries became staunch NATO allies even before they joined the EU. The geopolitical and security arguments for European unity are overwhelming, and there can be no united Europe without Hungary and Poland.

But all of us, and in particular the peoples of Hungary and Poland, must remember that NATO, like the EU, was founded on the fundamental principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. A government that flouts those principles jeopardizes the coherence and solidarity of the alliance. It is therefore vital that the United States and other NATO allies speak out now and insist that functioning democratic checks and balances are safeguarded. It would be unimaginable for NATO heads of state to go ahead with their planned leadership summit in Warsaw in June if Poland remains in its constitutional crisis, with the government disregarding the rule of law and the opinion of a respected international body.

Hungarians and Poles must be reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively attempting to divide and weaken the EU and NATO. If Europe is to face down aggression from the Kremlin, it is essential that Poland and Hungary adhere to these groups’ fundamental values and principles.

But it is also necessary that the EU itself develop a more comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding the rule of law within the Union. The EU has mechanisms to regulate economic policies, safeguard the environment, and police the Single Market. But Europe has always been much more than an economic project; it is also a union of values, which no member can be allowed to repudiate without consequence.

Governments are created and fall apart, and politicians come and go; but democratic institutions should be spared from political interference. The sad reality is that, were they to apply for EU membership today, neither Hungary nor Poland would be admitted. Their people should weigh carefully what that means. 

Their current leaders claim to be defending national interests. But is it really in their countries’ interest to be sidelined by the US, NATO, and the rest of Europe?

Note EU-Digest: Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, is President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament. 

NATO's Planned June Leadership in June should be cancelled if Hungary and Poland  both continue to obstruct  the fundamental principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law on which not only the EU was founded but also the NATO.

EU-Digest