Britain-Netherlands relations: Creatives from UK and NL discuss how to adapt to Brexit and Covid

Creatives from the UK and the Netherlands came together in a virtual session on 25 November 2020 to discuss opportunities for, and threats to, future Anglo-Dutch cultural collaboration. In less time than it takes to drive from London to Birmingham, the nearly thirty participants from all over England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands had concluded a very successful session, coming up with some excellent analyses of what is required to maintain strong international cultural connections. It shows there are positives to the 'new normal' of meeting each other online. The useful input that was gathered during this meeting helps the Dutch Embassy in the UK, organiser of the event, to focus its efforts on facilitating bilateral cultural exchange.

Read more at: Creatives from UK and NL discuss how to adapt to Brexit and Covid | News item | netherlandsandyou.nl

The Netherlands: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company

For 91 years, the company structure was divided between the Netherlands and Great Britain, with two head offices in London and Rotterdam. The company also had two boards and two types of shares.

To simplify its structure, the company decided in 2018 to opt for one main office. Initially, the choice fell on Rotterdam, possibly partly due to the government's announcement to abolish the dividend tax. However, after opposition from influential shareholders, London became the final choice. In the end, the abolition of the dividend tax in the Netherlands was not passed.

The restructuring means that important strategic decisions will subsequently be made in London. This brings an end to the long Dutch history of the company, but in practice – at least in short term – there won't be much change.

Read more at: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company | NL Times

Nigeria-Netherlands relations: Nigeria gets back 600-year-old artefact from the Netherlands

Nigeria has received a “priceless” terracotta head believed to be at least 600 years old which was smuggled to the Netherlands, the information minister said.

Dutch ambassador to Nigeria Harry Van Dijk on Thursday returned it to Information Minister Lai Mohammed in a ceremony in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

ead more at: Nigeria gets back 600-year-old artefact from the Netherlands | Europe | Al Jazeera

EU - US relations: US Nuclear Weapons stockpiled in Europe: The New Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Will Be an Early Trial for Biden - by Miles A. Pomper

With support from nearly half the world’s nations, a new United Nations treaty banning the possession and use of nuclear weapons will take effect early next year. The U.N. confirmed last month that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or TPNW, had been ratified by the required 50 countries. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it “a tribute to the survivors of nuclear explosions and tests, many of whom advocated for this treaty.”

Many non-nuclear-armed states, as well as pro-disarmament activists and organizations like the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, have celebrated the agreement, which they see as a milestone in global efforts to prevent nuclear war. However, it has drawn strong opposition from nuclear-armed states, especially the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Trump administration has called on the treaty’s 84 signatories to back out of it. Its entry into force on Jan. 22, 2021, will pose a thorny diplomatic challenge for the incoming Biden administration.

Still, the treaty could pose a political problem in the future for NATO members and other countries that shelter under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, given the TPNW’s call not to support actions inconsistent with the treaty. That challenge is especially acute for the five NATO members that host an estimated 150 forward-deployed U.S nuclear weapons: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey. German, Dutch and Belgian disarmament advocates, in particular, enjoy strong mainstream political support among center-left parties in all three countries. And 56 former world leaders, including many from NATO countries, argued recently in an open letter that the new nuclear ban treaty can “help end decades of paralysis in disarmament.”

Note EU-Digest: Five NATO members, including, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey still shelter large numbers of US Nuclear weapons on their soil. Hopefully the UN TPNW Treaty will force the disarmament of these weapons from these countries, which presently makes them a major target for massive destruction and death in case of war.

Read more at: The New Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Will Be an Early Trial for

EU Counter Measures To Be Taken- Article 7: Hungary and Poland maintain united front blocking EU COVID-19 recovery fund

The leaders of Hungary and Poland have vowed to maintain a united front and uphold their veto of the EU's budget and its massive pandemic relief fund.

They continue to oppose the mechanism that ties funding for countries to rule of law principles, arguing that the EU plan risks derailing the bloc.

" Note EU-Digest: Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union should be applied, which is a procedure in the treaties of the European Union (EU) to suspend certain rights from a member state and consequently stop all funding to these two countries within this legal framework".

Read more at: Hungary and Poland maintain united front blocking EU COVID-19 recovery fund | Euronews

The Netherlands: Dutch flower industry hit hard by the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world’s largest flower auction on the outskirts of Amsterdam into chaos. As Europe remains in lockdown, no-one thinks of buying flowers and tons of them land in shredders. 

Read more at: Dutch flower industry hit hard by the pandemic | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 24.11.2020

EU - Opinion on Hungary and Poland: The E.U. Puts Its Foot Down on the Rule of Law - editorial board

After years of passively watching nationalist governments in Hungary and Poland undermine democratic rule, the European Union finally drew the line this year and declared that disbursements from the E.U. budget and a special coronavirus relief fund would be contingent on each member’s adherence to the rule of law. Hungary and Poland have shamelessly retaliated by threatening to veto the Union’s next seven-year budget, emergency funds and all, unless the condition is scrapped.

The governments in Budapest and Warsaw couched their defiance with their usual plaints that the bloc was behaving like their former Soviet overlords. “This is not why we created the European Union, so that there would be a second Soviet Union,” declared Viktor Orban, the proudly illiberal prime minister of Hungary. But such posturing has long been discredited, especially as both right-wing governments have happily reaped huge subsidies from the European Union.

The cynical reactions of Mr. Orban and the right-wing Law and Justice government in Warsaw demonstrated how far they have strayed from the fundamental principles they signed on to when they joined the European Union. They make no bones about it: Hungarian and Polish officials recently met to set up a joint institute to combat the “suppression of opinions by liberal ideology.”

Mr. Orban in particular has systematically worked to curtail the independence of the judiciary, bring the press to heel and curb civil society. With Fidesz, his nationalist party, in full control of Parliament, he took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic in March to assume broad and open-ended emergency powers that effectively allow him to rule by decree for as long as he wants.

Note EU-Digest: "Hungary and Poland want all the benefits of the EU, but do not want to comply with the rules - it's hight time for the EU Commission to give them an ultimatum- live up to the rules of the EU or lose your membership"

Read more at: Opinion | The E.U. Puts Its Foot Down on the Rule of Law - The New York Times