Netherlands: First eco-friendly residential district made by residents opened in the Netherlands - by Mina Solanki

Housing in the Netherlands may be becoming more sustainable, but it’s not there just yet. There are however, communities which are making sustainable housing possible.

Together, residents, who are members of the Groene Mient association in The Hague, took on a project development role and have created an energy neutral residential district, which opened on September 12.

The eco-friendly residential area is situated in the Vruchtenbuurt in The Hague, where, the school, the Maris College once stood. There are 33 houses in the Groene Mient area, which surround an ecological garden.

The design of the residential area was created by Architektenkombinatie and FilliéVerhoeven, agencies in The Hague, in close collaboration with the residents, and was built by Sprangers, a construction company from Breda. All companies involved have experience with sustainable construction and collective private commissioning projects.

The residents of the area want to look after each other and the district, and they do this is part by using energy, resources and food in a sustainable manner. They refer to the project as a social ecological project, encompassing the social aspect as well as the eco-friendly goal. The residents share a communal area as well as the communal garden.

Read more: First eco-friendly residential district made by residents opened in the Netherlands

Climate Change: EU, Canada, China to jointly fight climate change

The European Union, Canada and China are joining forces to strengthen global action in the fight against climate change, co-hosting a Ministerial Meeting on Climate Action on September 15-16 in Montreal, Canada.

This gathering, a first of its kind, seeks to galvanise global momentum for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and will bring together ministers and high-level representatives from 34 economies that are part of the G20 and other invited countries, the Commission said.

Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are leading lead the roundtable discussion on climate action and clean growth.

Cañete stressed that the EU remains committed to the Paris Agreement and its full and swift implementation. “Domestically, we are progressing steadily with the finalisation of the measures to reduce our emissions by at least 40% by 2030. Internationally, we are strengthening our existing partnerships and seeking new alliances.

Our aim is to raise global climate ambition, follow through with concrete action and support our partners, in particular the most vulnerable countries,” Cañete said.

The meeting in Montreal takes place only days after this year’s State of the Union Address by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker where he underlined that he “wants Europe to be the leader when it comes to the fight against climate change.

Set against the collapse of ambition in the United States, Europe will ensure we make our planet great again. It is the shared heritage of all of humanity”.

Two months before the next United Nations climate conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany, the meeting will also provide the space for discussions on the expected outcomes of upcoming UN climate talks, the Commission said.

Read more: EU, Canada, China to jointly fight climate change

The Netherlands - Economy - Individual Wealth: More millionaires in the Netherlands - by Mina Solanki

According to a report by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) based on asset figures from 2007 to 2015, the number of millionaire households in the Netherlands rose by 500 to 106.000 in 2015. The report did not look at the value of the millionaire’s residence or mortgage debt.

Of the 106.000 millionaire households, two-thirds reported employment as their main source of income. The majority of millionaires work in the agricultural industry, financial services, trade, specialised business services, or in the care industry.

About 80 percent of millionaires are entrepreneurs in one way or another, with half taking the title of managing director or major shareholder and a third being self-employed.

Coming in first with the highest percentage, 19 percent of millionaire breadwinners work in the agricultural industry, half of which are active in dairy farming businesses. Many people in this industry are self-employed, and often their money is tied up in their business, for example, in land and equipment.

Financial services came second as the industry in which the most millionaires work.

In 2015, there were 94 Dutch municipalities with 2,5 percent or more residents who had millionaire status. However, in 5 municipalities, 6 percent or more of the residents were millionaires.

The greatest number of millionaires lived in Laren, followed by Bloemendaal, Blaricum, Wassenaar and Rozendaal.

Dutch Millionaires are often married, with 71 percent having tied the knot compared to 45 percent of non-millionaires. Few, 7 percent, had also gone through a divorce, as opposed to 14 percent of non-millionaires.

Read more: More millionaires in the Netherlands

EU: How some migrants are switching to Romania in their bid for Europe - by Chris Harri

Migrants have seemingly changed tack in their bid to reach Europe, it’s emerged.

More than 150 people – mainly from Iran and Iraq – crossed the Black Sea from Turkey and were rescued at Midia on Romania’s eastern flank on Tuesday August 12th.
.
It’s part of a new trend over the last month that has seen around 470 migrants arrive in the EU country.

It comes as EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker called for Romania to be part of the Schengen Area, potentially making it easier for migrants to move westwards once in Europe.

The route has been used in the past.

It hit a five-year high in 2014 with around 430 arrivals but numbers then dropped off, falling to 68 in 2015 and just one last year.

Gabriela Leu, a spokeswoman for UNHCR’s office in Romania, told Euronews: “Sea crossing are dangerous and the fact people are putting children on these boats shows they have to be very desperate.

Read more: How some migrants are switching to Romania in their bid for Europe | Euronews

EU State of the Union: Juncker says EU to 'move on' from Brexit and calls for "One speed. One currency. One president"

President Juncker gives State of the 
Union address to the EU Parliament

Preesident Jean-Claude Juncker declared : "the “wind is back in Europe’s sails” in an an often very personal State of the Union speech, in which he gave his vision for the future of the European Union after the UK makes its “tragic” departure in 2019.

President Jean-Claude Juncker in his speech (often interrupted by applause) argued for a more unified and politically-accountable European Union after Brexit, which would combine the presidencies of the Commission and the Council into one (universally elected?), complete the euro currency zone, and generally push the bloc to take “a democratic leap forward” in unison and at a single speed.

The European commission president said he would always be sorrowed by the UK’s decision to leave the EU. “This will be a very sad and tragic moment in our history, we will always regret this”, he said before responding to heckling from Nigel Farage, President Trump's "soul mate", by retorting: “I think you will regret this soon, I might say.”

Calling for a special summit in Romania on the 30 March 2019, the first day of an EU of 27 member states rather than 28, Juncker said he hoped the continent would “wake up” that day to a new more unified bloc.

Juncker’s annual address to the European parliament in Strasbourg was notably more upbeat about the future than his speech a year ago, with economic growth outstripping the US and unemployment at a nine-year low. The commission president and former prime minister of Luxembourg  insisted the bloc should seize the moment to make widespread reforms. “As Mark Twain wrote, years from now we will be more disappointed by the things we did not do, than by the ones we did,” he said.

"On the 30 March 2019, we will be a union of 27 and I suggest we prepare very well for that date.”

Juncker added that the council should adopt qualified majority voting, rather than unanimity, on foreign policy issues and drive forward in European defence. “By 2025 we need a fully-fledged European defense union,” he said.

He also added the EU would establish a European cybersecurity agency. “Cyber-attacks know no borders and no one is immune,” he said.

Juncker told MEPs he intended to start trade talks with Australia and New Zealand, and promised to legislate to protect strategic interests from foreign purchases through industrial screening.

A joint statement from the French, German and Italian governments following the speech endorsed the move. The German minister for economic affairs, Brigitte Zypries, said: “We must avoid other states benefiting from our opening to advance their own industrial policy interests.”

Juncker added that the EU would respond to the “collapse of the ambitions in the US” on climate change by stepping into the vacuum and ensuring that Europe protected the world. “Let’s catch the wind in our sails”, he told MEPs.

However, he ruled out Turkey’s accession to the EU in the “foreseeable future”, and, in his strongest comments to date on the issue, he condemned the country’s slide into authoritarianism under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“Turkey has been moving away from the European Union in leaps and bounds,” Juncker told MEPs. “Journalists belong in editorial offices amid a heated debate, and not in prison. I appeal today to the powers that be in Turkey: let our journalists go, and not just our journalists.”

The EU President also proposed combining the Commission and Council presidencies — a move that would transform the EU leadership and consolidate authority in a single figure who would campaign for the post.

“Europe would function better if we were to merge the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council,” Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
“Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship.”

Mr. Juncker. who is originally from Luxembourg spoke at times in German, French and English. His speech was simultaneously and individually translated for members of the EU Parliament in their own local language 

For the video with the complete speech of President Juncker click here. 

 EU-Digest

Spain Catalonia: Ballot papers for banned referendum to be seized

The vote on breaking away from Spain, planned for 1 October, has been suspended by the constitutional court.

But Catalonia's pro-independence government says it will still go ahead.

As a result, the Public Prosecutor's Office instructed security forces to take everything which could help with the "consummation of the crime".

This includes promotional materials and the ballots themselves, Spanish newspaper El Pais reports [in Spanis

The order came as Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal came out strongly against the plans.
 
Read more: Spain Catalonia: Ballot papers for banned referendum to be seized - BBC News

Ramstein Air Base anti-drone protests: The Germans taking on the US military

At first it's difficult to reconcile the week's itinerary at the "peace camp" — yoga, reggae, poetry slam - with the gray-haired audience gathered in this dusky room.

Taking up every seat and windowsill, the crowd of at least 150 listens intently as each speaker outlines how the US government is leading an 'illegal war" in their backyard. The city is Kaiserslautern, the Air Force base in question is Ramstein and the war is that waged by US's drone operations, which they say violate German law.

"Our government must review and prohibit the drone war," Otto Jaeckel tells the crowd to loud applause. He called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen to take action: "Ms. Merkel and Ms. von der Leyen bear personal responsibility here!"

Under the banner of "Stop Ramstein Air Base," a nationwide campaign has drawn peace activists from across Germany and other countries to Kaiserslautern, calling for the base to be shut down.

Note EU-Digest: Given the international scope of these illegal US military operations conducted from sovereign German soil this should become an issue which must be dealt by the EU.  Also read http://www.dw.com/en/berlin-powerless-to-challenge-us-drone-operations-at-ramstein-air-base/a-17545327. 

Read more: Ramstein Air Base anti-drone protests: The Germans taking on the US military | News | DW | 09.09.2017