Economic growth in the Netherlands dropped considerably in the third quarter. Compared to the second quarter, the economy grew by only 0.2 percent between start July and end September - the lowest quarterly growth in the past two years, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday.
Business
Nov 14 '18 12:10
Current Rotterdam police chief Frank Paauw is the top candidate to succeed Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg as police chief in Amsterdam, well informed sources told Het Parool. Aalbersberg is stepping down as Amsterdam police chief to become the National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism and Security.
Paauw has been chief of the Rotterdam Rijnmond police since 2010. Before that he was deputy chief at the Haaglanden department, where he started his career as a detective in 1986.
Nov 14 '18 10:30
The Dutch health insurers announced their healthcare premiums for 2019. Not one insurer lowered their premiums, but Promovendum and Besured kept their premiums the same, NU.nl reports.
The four largest insurers Zilveren Kruis (Achmea), VGZ, CZ and Menzis are increasing their basic health insurance premiums by 7.50 euros, 4.75 euros, 8.55 euros and 3 euros per month respectively. An outlier is PNOzorg, which is increasing the premium for its basic package by 17.74 euros per month.
Nov 14 '18 09:40
Multiple businesses in the hospitality industry in Amsterdam's city center were closed and fined thousands of euros for committing labor market fraud, the the Social Affairs and Employment Inspectorate and the municipality of Amsterdam announced, the Telegraaf reports.
According to the Inspectorate, the businesses forged payslips, employed foreigners without a work permit, messed with working hours, and underpaid their workers, among other things. These practices did not stop despite warnings.
Nov 13 '18 12:30
The Blokker family is putting the Blokker chain up for sale, president-commissioner Michiel Witteveen confirmed in an interview with Financieele Dagblad. "Blokker has been managed for 112 years from a family perspective and sometimes it is better to approach it from a different perspective. Fortunately the family sees that too", he said to the newspaper.
The family is currently looking for a buyer. According to FD, the debt the Blokker chain has at its sale will be waived. This amounts to at least 150 million euros, the newspaper writes.
Nov 13 '18 11:40
ProRail will be carrying out work around Schiphol this weekend. As a result, no trains will be running on the route between Schiphol Airport and Leiden from Friday to Sunday. On Saturday the airport will be completely inaccessible by train, ANP reports.
On Saturday no trains will run between Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Schiphol, Amsterdam Zuid and Schiphol, and Schiphol and Leiden. The Intercity direct between Amsterdam Central Station and Rotterdam will also be down over the weekend.
Nov 13 '18 08:08
Up until October 1st, the Dutch immigration and naturalization service IND paid over a million euros in penalty payments to asylum seekers and refugees this year due to too slow procedures. That amount is likely to quadruple by the end of this year, because thousands of claims have not yet been handled, the Volkskrant reports based on figures from the IND.
Nov 12 '18 12:50
Amsterdam wants to limit the number of Bed & Breakfasts in the city. The municipality is therefore making it compulsory for anyone who wants to open a B&B to get a permit. The permit will also state how many rooms may be rented out as holiday accommodation, the city said in a statement.
Nov 12 '18 07:33
This week is starting out rainy for the Netherlands and that could mean a busy rush hour on Monday morning, Weerplaza expects. The weather service expects between 200 and 400 kilometers of traffic jams on Dutch roads. Train traffic may also suffer under the weather, though indirectly through leafs falling on the track.
Nov 9 '18 16:30
The largest producer of controversial mulitplay bouncy houses is in the process of recalling and adjusting the bouncy houses to make them safer, RTL Nieuws reports.
Experts warned that the multiplay bouncy houses are dangerous and should be recalled. Over the past summer, at least two children sustained skull fractures after falling from such a bouncy house.
Nov 9 '18 08:52
The Ministry of Education will allow primary schools facing a teacher shortage to let people without a teaching qualification, but with specialist knowledge, teach certain subjects if no other solution can be found. This involves the subjects music, drama, handicraft, art, and world orientation. Subjects like language and mathematics must always have a qualified teacher. The unions are not pleased with this plan, NU.nl reports.
Nov 8 '18 13:20
ProRail is accelerating the plan to run longer trains between Amsterdam and Nijmegen to implement it in the autumn of 2019, three years earlier than initially planned. The route is one of the busiest in the Netherlands, NU.nl reports.
Nov 8 '18 12:30
Have all teachers, from primary to secondary education and from pre-school to secondary vocational education, follow the same basic teacher training, after which they can specialize if they wish, the Education Council said in advice to parliament. This will make the profession more attractive and thus help solve the teacher shortage, the Council said, RTL Nieuws reports.
Nov 8 '18 10:00
Dutch companies like Shell, Boskalis and Van Oord may face sanctions if they remain connected to the Nord Stream 2 project, according to Pete Hoekstra, the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands. If the companies are sanctioned, they could find it difficult to do business with the U.S., NOS reports.
Nov 8 '18 09:11
A North Korean laborer who worked at a polish shipyard under horrible circumstances filed a lawsuit against a Dutch company who had built ship hulls there. According to the man, the company was aware of the poor, almost slave-like, working conditions, NU.nl reports.
Law firm Prakken D'Oliveira, who is representing the North Korean man, announced the lawsuit in a statement on Thursday. The name of the Dutch company is not mentioned, as not to hinder the Public Prosecutor in an eventual criminal investigation. The man's name is withheld for his own safety, the law firm said.
Nov 7 '18 14:30
Shell companies annually siphon 199 billion euros out of the Netherlands in the form of dividends, interest and royalties. Approximately 22 billion of this amount end up in tax havens, according to a study bye SEO Economic Research commissioned by the Ministry of Finance, ANP reports.
The government plans to tackle the outflow to tax havens, countries with very low tax rates, by introducing a so-called withholding tax in 2021.
Nov 7 '18 11:10
Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Managements considers it possible that "some form of the Stint" electric cargo bikes will eventually be allowed to ride on Dutch roads again. "But the doubts about safety must be removed", she said during a parliamentary debate on the matter on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.
Nov 7 '18 09:30
A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supports a proposal by ruling party VVD to build more nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. Opponents worry about nuclear waste and what it will mean for future generations, NOS reports.
The VVD proposal was supported by the VVD, PVV, CDA and FvD. Proponents believe that the Netherlands can not afford to outright reject nuclear energy. But they also point out the disadvantages - nuclear waste, the construction of a nuclear plant is a long process, and it is an expensive source of energy.
Nov 7 '18 08:19
Amsterdam is using a new method to crack down on money laundering in the hospitality industry. The administrative court ruled that the burden of evidence can be switched. Which means that Amsterdam can ask new restaurants or pubs to prove their money is clean before issuing a permit, NOS reports.
Nov 6 '18 12:30
Sixteen Ryanair cabin crew workers at Eindhoven Airport have been fired by the Irish budget airline, according to union FNV. According to the airline, these workers were still in their trial period, which lasts a year according to Irish employment law, NOS reports.
Nov 6 '18 11:40
NS will experiment with high speed intercity trains on the route between Amsterdam and Groningen next year. If the experiment succeeds, the high speed trains may be included in the 2021 timetable. "For example, twice an hour as a rush hour train", NS said, NOS reports.
Nov 5 '18 15:30
The three major Dutch banks - ING, Rabobank and ABN Amro - have decided they do not each need their own ATMs and will therefore jointly launch a new uniform, bank-independent ATM brand. The new, yellow cash dispensers will be called 'Geldmaat' and will start appearing next year, NOS reports.
Nov 5 '18 07:54
Hundreds of Barneveld residents are living on polluted ground without knowing it. Over 1,000 tons of contaminated soil was illegally used for two new construction projects in the city, research program Zembla reports based on a report from the Gelderland environmental services.
According to Zembla, a controversial waste processor delivered a total of 10 thousand tons of soil that was heavily polluted with toxic substances styrene and DDT. The company used falsified papers to do this. The pollution in the soil exceeds the legal standards.
Nov 5 '18 07:06
At least 40 thousand tourists have been affected by TravelBird's money problems, the majority of them are Dutch, according to guarantee fund SGR. The Amsterdam based travel agency filed for deferment of payment last week, newspaper AD reports.
