The Netherlands - Brexit-British elections: 'We've lost our minds': British nationals in NL after election result

British nationals in the Netherlands have been turning to social media to express their feelings following Thursday night’s British election results which will see Brexit become a reality at the end of January next year.

Some 49,000 first generation British nationals currently live in the Netherlands. ‘Gutted beyond words. What happened to the British people? We’ve lost our minds,’ said one woman on Facebook. ‘No fan but hey – at least we are one step closer to knowing where we stand and moving on from the last 3 years…

Always a bright side,’ said another British resident in the Netherlands. ‘The other bright side being – you don’t live there.’ Others pointed out that youngsters will be hardest hit. ‘The future of the UK’s youth has just been made harder.

That is NOT progressing but going back to the days before the young Europeans had job opportunities throughout Europe,’ said Leroy Moorrees on Facebook. Author Ben Coates, who describes himself as a ‘recovering Tory’, said on Twitter people must now accept that millions of people were not tricked into supporting Brexit.

Read more at: 'We've lost our minds': British nationals in NL after election result - DutchNews.nl

Britain: Election results 2019: Tories on course to win majority - exit poll

First results are coming in, with the Tories gaining a seat from Labour, as the exit poll suggests Boris Johnson's party is on course for an 86-seat majority.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50765773

The Netherlands: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project - by José Rojo Martín

The Netherlands has recently marked the operational launch of one of the largest solar farms seen to date, a plant delivered in the country’s northeast by Chinese partners.

Chint Solar has now powered up the 103MWp Midden-Groningen Solar Park, built within eight months this year to the east of the city of Groningen.

The 315,000-panel installation was equipped by PV module maker – and Chint’s sister firm – Astronergy and is now supplying the Dutch grid from its 117-hectare site near the village of Sappemeer.

Construction got underway in February 2019 and was completed by the October 2019 deadline thanks to favourable weather conditions this summer, Chint explained.

Read more at: Chint switches on the Netherlands’ self-styled largest solar project | PV Tech

The Netherlands: Amsterdam has the most expensive parking in the world

Amsterdam has topped another global list this week, only this time the honor is not nearly as friendly as a title like Best Place to Live, or the Safest City in the EU. Drivers resource website and app Parkopedia has named the Dutch capital the most expensive city globally for street parking.

Read more at:
https://nltimes.nl/2019/12/08/amsterdam-expensive-parking-world

The Netherlands: The Province of Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinationals

BOM Foreign Investments again broke its own record when it came to job creation in the province of Brabant last year, with 1,661 new jobs created in 2014 thanks to foreign companies either moving to the region or expanding their operations there.

These companies also invested €154.2 million in the province, the Brabant Development Agency (BOM) announced yesterday at its biennial Investors Day.

The 2014 figures yet another gain for BOM Foreign Investments over the preceding year, when 1,313 jobs were created and investments stood at €52 million.

Read more at: Brabant remains the favorite base for foreign multinational

EU-US Relations: Trump escalates fight over tax on tech giants - by Naomi Jagoda and Emily Birnbaum

The long-running fight between the U.S. and Europe over how to tax American tech giants is heating up.

The Trump administration on Monday proposed retaliating against France for a tax on digital services, floating $2.4 billion in tariffs, and Paris is vowing to hit back. 

The dispute is raising pressure on international negotiators to develop a framework for taxing tech companies whose businesses span the globe. But as the complicated talks unfold, the U.S. is threatening to launch more investigations.

 Read more at: Trump escalates fight over tax on tech giants | TheHill

NATO: Macron spars with US and Turkey over Nato - by Nikolaj Nielsen

EU Defense Force: Europe needs to control it's own destiny

The presidents of France, Turkey and the United States sparred over Nato as the 29 leaders of the 70-year old alliance gathered in London.

In a late night tweet on Tuesday (3 December), French president Emmanuel Macron entrenched his views on the future of the fraying alliance.

"We can't put money and pay the cost of our soldiers' lives without being clear on the fundamentals of what Nato should be," he said.

The position follows his earlier comments describing Nato as "brain dead", given Turkey's October invasion into north-east Syria, displacing tens of thousands of people.

After US president Donald Trump abandoned the Kurdish militias, who had fought alongside US and French troops in the struggle against the Islamic State, Turkey moved in.

Note EU-Digest: Macron is right on this one. US President Trump pulled out of Syria without consulting any of his NATO partners, except possibly Turkey, and created a chaos at the border between Syria and Turkey. It is high time the EU gets off the lap of the US and creates its own military defense force, which focuses on the interests of Europe.

Read more at: Macron spars with US and Turkey over Nato