EU - Germany confirms that Trump tried to buy firm working on coronavirus vaccine

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Germany confirms that Trump tried to buy firm working on coronavirus vaccine – POLITICO

European Union: Only a ‘New Deal’ can rescue the European project – by M J. Rodrigues and P.Magnette

 If the European project is to survive it requires a plan on the scale of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

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https://www.socialeurope.eu/only-a-new-deal-can-rescue-the-european-project

Netherlands: Coronavirus: 18,803 Cases and 1,867 Deaths - Worldometer

Netherlands Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

Read more at:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/netherlands/

Coronavirus: Why Dutch lockdown may be a high-risk strategy

As coronavirus spreads rapidly the Dutch official stance has been criticised as cold-hearted.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52135814

Dutch flower industry continues to wither amid coronavirus

Growers are preserving what they have in storage or fields, however the reality is that almost all of this 12 month’s harvest will possible go to waste.

“The loss is huge,” said Michel van Schie of FloraHolland, the world’s dominant flower clearing house for public sales.

“In the intervening time we now have solely 30% of our regular turnover, and ... that during the busiest period of the year.”

Each day gross sales in March typically move 20 million euros ($22 million) of flowers, which continue with strong sales into the Easter vacation and Mothers Day..

In all, 35% of the world's flower and plant exports, valued at 6.2 billion euros over a 12 months period, move through the Netherlands, principally from Dutch growers, but additionally from African and Latin American farms.

Van Schie said the situation became specially acute on March 13 with the  flight cancellations and bans on public gatherings at many international events. This meant almost 1 / 4 of flowers up for public sale that day went unsold and had to be thrown out.

“Subsequent on that Monday it was 50%, after which we had to take unpleasant measures and we had to tell our growers ‘please diminish your stock’ as a result much of the stock had to be destroyed.”

Read more at: Dutch flower industry continues to wither amid coronavirus - Sunriseread

Netherlands willing to contribute €1 billion to EU coronavirus fund no strings attached

The Dutch government is willing to contribute up to 1 billion euros to a yet-to-be-established European fund aimed at dealing with the coronavirus, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance said. Countries hit hard by Covid-19 and that are not in good financial health can turn to the fund to finance medical aid. "I am thinking roughly of a few hundred million to 1 billion euros," Hoekstra said to NU.nl on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister stressed that this is not a loan, but a gift, and the Netherlands' "substantial contribution to public health in Europe". Countries who call on this fund must clearly need help, Hoekstra said. Figuring out exactly how the control and release of the funds will work, and the conditions attached, is the next step, he said.

Unlike the still contested European Stability Mechanism (ESM), contribution to this fund is not mandatory for EU Member States. The member states are free to decide if and how much they want to contribute. According to Hoekstra, there is "broad enthusiasm" among his European colleagues for this fund.

Hoekstra stressed that the Netherlands is and will remain vehemently against so-called coronabonds, where the funds raised from selling such bond instruments would be used to help all member states overcome economic hurdles during the ongoing health crisis. The money could then be invested in supporting any EU member state, while repayment obligations would be the responsibility of the entire EU. Italy and Spain, both very hard hit by the coronavirus, insist on such bonds, the Netherlands and other countries including Germany, France and Belgium are against it.

The Dutch resistance to coronabonds resulted in fierce criticism from Italy. Especially after Hoekstra said that countries should first pull out all the stops to recover from the economic downturn themselves.

This statement prompted indignation, given that the Netherlands has far less public debt than Italy and therefore has much more financial room.

Read more: Netherlands willing to contribute €1 billion to EU coronavirus fund | NL Times

Coronavirus and the Florida Tourist Industry: Holland America ships dock in Florida, debarkation plan - "following considerable diplomatic pressure" - by Morgan Hines and Jayme Deerwester

The Holland America Line "Zaandam"

After finally reaching a deal with authorities, Holland America was allowed to dock two of its ships at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday.

Port Everglades traffic records confirmed the arrival of MS Zaandam and sister ship MS Rotterdam after 5 p.m. local time.

Photos showed critically ill people being transferred from the Zaandam to waiting ambulances. The sick and local residents are the only ones leaving Port Everglades on Thursday, a Holland America document outlining the disembarkation plan showed.

The Zaandam and the Rotterdam, which rendezvoused last week, were both given permission to disembark passengers at Port Everglades after days of negotiation with local officials who feared it would divert needed resources from a region that has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"We were made privy of the details yesterday, and we’re hopeful that this new protocol that they’ve agreed to will sufficiently insulate our people in Fort Lauderdale at risk of (contracting) the disease," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told USA TODAY earlier on Thursday.

The remains of four elderly passengers who died on the Zaandam were also scheduled for removal Thursday evening.  Two of the four deaths on board the Zaandam have been blamed on COVID-19, and nine people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said.

Between the Zaandam and Rotterdam a total of 107 passengers and 143 crew members have presented flu-like symptoms since March 22, according to a Holland America statement provided by spokesperson Sally Andrews.

In a Thursday statement, Holland America expressed relief that a deal had finally been struck, ending the ships' saga, which began in mid-March when Chile denied the MS Zaandam permission to end the cruise there.

“These travelers could have been any one of us or our families, unexpectedly caught in the middle of this unprecedented closure of global borders that happened in a matter of days and without warning,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

Ashford continued, "We are so happy to be able to get our guests home and assist those few who need additional medical services. The COVID-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our shared humanity, and we must do everything we can to ensure we continue to act in ways consistent with our common human dignity."

The ships are carrying 311 Americans and 52 Florida residents, with the largest numbers coming  from Canada, the EU, and and several other non-us countries.

Note EU-Digest: "Informed sources reported that there was a lot of diplomatic pressure  put on the Florida Governor by the Netherlands Government  (home port of the two ships), and Governments of other countries, which had passengers on board  the Zaandam and the Rotterdam. Apparently even President Trump was involved at one point, in the decision to let the passengers disembark in Fort Lauderdale. Not allowing the passengers disembark in Fort Lauderdale would have caused irreparable damage to the image of the Florida Tourist and cruise industry".

Read more: Coronavirus: Holland America ships dock in Florida, debarkation plan