Last week, U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, was named an honorary cheese Weighmaster by Gouda Mayor Mirjam Salet at the annual opening of the city's historic cheese market. "I’ll continue to promote the cheese to our American friends," he reportedly said.
European Commission
Apr 9 '19 20:00
Feb 4 '19 12:10
Officials from the European Commission want to launch an infringement procedure against the Netherlands for violating rules on pulse fishing, the Commission wrote in a letter to French environmental organization Bloom, which is in the possession of broadcaster NOS.
The European Commissioners still have to agree to this procedure. But according to NOS, it is rare for Commissioners to refuse a procedure. If the procedure is launched, it could result in the Netherlands having to adjust its policy, which can have major consequences for Dutch pulse fishermen.
Jan 25 '19 12:00
Prime Minister Mark Rutte criticized Brussels for being too lax as far as Italy is concerned. The European Commission must be harsher on Italy for violating budget agreements, Rutte said at an economic summit in Davos. The current state of affairs fosters mistrusts among citizens of other EU member states, including the Dutch, he said, NU.nl reports.
Jan 16 '19 07:46
The British House of Commons voted against the Brexit deal British Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union. With only two months to go until the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, time is running out to come to a good solution. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other EU leaders are disappointed by the vote.
Dec 19 '18 08:09
The vast majority of Dutch are for scrapping daylight savings time, according to a survey among over 1,800 Dutch ordered by Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Kingdom relations. 41 percent want to keep winter time all year, approximately a quarter want summer time to be the standard time, and another quarter want to stick to the current system of adjusting the clock twice a year, NOS reports.
Oct 10 '18 10:05
European Commissioner Frans Timmermans wants to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission. He will officially announce his candidacy later this week, NOS reports.
Aug 31 '18 12:20
The European Commission wants to get rid of daylight saving time in Europe as soon as possible. If Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has his way, Europe will keep their clocks on summer time, as they are now. CDA parliamentarian Annie Schreier-Pierik, whose been fighting for scrapping the biannual time change for years, is happy that something is finally being done, RTL Nieuws reports.
Aug 15 '18 08:29
People in the Netherlands are the most active of all Europeans. About 80 percent of Dutch people cycle, walk, garden or swim on a weekly basis, compared to the European average of 44 percent, according to the Euro Barometer - sports and physical activity by the European Commission, Trouw reports.
Also when it comes to playing sports, the Dutch scored well. 56 percent of Dutch play sports weekly, compared to the European average of 40 percent. Though Sweden, Denmark and Finland did better in this field.
Mar 16 '18 16:20
Prime Minister Mark Rutte is not available to succeed Donald Tusk when his term as EU president ends next year, the Prime Minister said on Friday, NOS reports
On Friday morning Rutte's VVD colleague Frits Bolkestein said to the Volkskrant that Rutte would do well to succeed Tusk. According to the former European Commissioner, it is in the interests of the Netherlands for Rutte to accept this "crucial function" in the European Union. He also said that Rutte as "binding figure" has the capacity to fill this difficult role
Mar 13 '18 10:30
On Monday an innovation deal was signed in Brussels that removes obstacles for storing energy in batteries. Companies in Utrecht's Lombok neighborhood have been working on this since 2015. The Urecht project is one of two innovation deals that the European Commission selected out of 32 proposals. "An important step", State Secretary Mona Keijzer of Economic Affairs and Climate said, ANP reports.
Mar 13 '18 07:53
The European Parliament launched a thorough investigation into the appointment of German lawyer Martin Selmayr as Secretary General of the European Commission, which basically puts him in charge of 33 thousand EU officials. This follows a debate on the matter insisted on by, among others, Dutch European Parliamentarians, AD reports.
The parliamentary inquiry comes on top of an ongoing investigation by the European Ombudsman. The European Parliament will make a statement on the appointment next month, and it may even lead to a vote of no confidence.
Mar 5 '18 09:10
New rules proposed by the European Commission could mean an end to the bonus cap for hundreds of Dutch investment firms, though the cap may still apply to companies large enough to be considered systematically important, such as banks and insurers, BNR reports.
Jan 30 '18 10:01
Italy plans to urge European institutions to reconsider the decision to move the European Medicines Agency from London to Amsterdam due to the Brexit, AD reports based on sources around the Italian government in Rome.
Last year Amsterdam won the bid to be the new home of the EMA headquarters. The medicines agency is moving its headquarters from London due to the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. Milan came in a close second place.
Dec 19 '17 09:00
With the municipal elections and a referendum on the new Big Data law for the Dutch intelligence services coming up in March next year, the Dutch government has taken an official stance against fake news and foreign meddling and is taking more steps to battle these attempts to influence public opinion in the Netherlands.
Dec 18 '17 09:05
The European Commission is launching an investigation into Ikea's tax construction in the Netherlands. European Commissioner on competition Margrethe Vestager is expected to officially announce the investigation on Tuesday, British newspaper the Financial Times reports.
Dec 13 '17 11:20
The Netherlands is joining Austria in filing a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice against Germany's plans to introduce a toll for passenger cars. According to the two country's, this toll discriminates against foreign motorists and is therefore in conflict with European rules, NU.nl reports.
Dec 6 '17 15:00
The European Union published its black list of tax havens. It consists of 17 countries the EU believes help multinationals and rich people avoid the tax authorities. The Netherlands does not appear on the list - no EU countries do. But Aruba and Curacao, which form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, were placed on a "gray list" - they have two years to implement promised improvements, or they'll be blacklisted, the Volkskrant reports.
Aug 11 '17 10:50
The European Commission wants to organize a summit type meeting for EU food safety minsters about the crisis surrounding eggs being contaminated with toxic insecticide fipronil, EU Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said in a statement. He wants this meeting to put an end to the infighting and accusations, RTL Nieuws reports.
Jul 6 '17 12:00
Ryanair planned to grow with new routes at Eindhoven Airport this fall, but the Dutch government won't give the Irish budget airline additional takeoff and landing slots, according to the airline, ANP reports.
Ryanair is therefore forced to completely scrap three of its planned connections and move three other routes to Germany. And flights from Eindhoven to six other destinations are flown less frequently than originally intended.
Jun 12 '17 09:19
Many Dutch self-employed and freelancers, for whom the bulk of their income come from these activities, don't pay income tax. Thanks to a set of deductions, the first 24 thousand euros of their income is untaxed, according to an analysis Statistics Netherlands published on Monday.
May 11 '17 14:30
The European economy is continuing its steady growth, and for the first time in a long time all EU countries saw economic growth. The European Commission expects that the EU economy will grow by 1.7 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018. The Netherlands is outperforming the EU average with expected economic growth of 2.1 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018, the Volkskrant reports.
Apr 10 '17 16:25
An increasing number of Dutch consider the judicial system in the Netherlands to be independent, according to the Justice Scoreboard 2017 that the European Commission published on Monday. A quarter of the Dutch population even rate the judicial system as very independent, and 76 percent are confident in it. In 2015 it was 16 percent and 72 percent respectively, ANP reports.
Mar 24 '17 13:05
Dutch European Parliamentarian Annie Schreijer-Pierik is handing a petition to stop Daylight Savings Time to European Commissioner Violeta Bulc. On Sunday the Netherlands and other EU countries are setting their clocks one hour ahead.
The petition was organized by Dutch woman Anouk Verhaaff and signed by over 20 thousand people, Trouw reports. Schreijer is pleased with the number of signatures. The petition will be handed over to Bulc because she is busy with a study on the costs and benefits of Daylight Saving Time. The results are expected in October.
Mar 20 '17 15:30
Dutch scientist Henk Hesselink believes that airports with circular runways are the future of aviation. His years long research shows that circular runways have many benefits, including that they are less noisy and more environmental friendly, he explained to NOS.
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