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You are here: Home News Dutch News Dutch news in brief, Monday 13 October 2008

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13/10/2008Dutch news in brief, Monday 13 October 2008

Find out what’s the latest news in the Netherlands in the roundup of today’s press from Radio Netherlands.

13 October 2008

EU agrees on joint financial plan
It's no surprise that the global financial crisis dominates Monday's Dutch dailies. De Telegraaf tries to reassure its readers with "World tackles crisis" and Trouw follows suit with a slightly more sober "World supports financial action plan".

AD and De Volkskrant both have a more Euro centric approach: "Euro zone countries agree on joint plan" reads De Volkskrant's rather restrained front page headline while AD goes for the blunt but accurate "Euro zone countries open government purse strings to halt crisis".

NRC.next just sums up the rhetoric dished out by the world's leaders over the past weekend: "It'll be all right, just trust us".

De Telegraaf reports the international community "worked feverishly" in the US capital Washington DC over the weekend to find a solution to the financial crisis afflicting the entire world and that the G-7, the world's richest industrial countries, "promised to use all available instruments to support the world's financial institutions".

The rest of the papers say pretty much the same thing, namely that the world has agreed on a joint action plan.

De Volkskrant reports that the 15 euro zone countries agreed to back Britain's plan to tackle the crisis, calling the agreement "remarkable" and "something of a surprise", as Britain is "always an outsider when it comes to the EU".

NRC.next takes a rather cynical and sarcastic tone with its report. "Just don't ask about the details" headlines the paper above an article that begins with "World leaders meet to discuss the financial crisis, revealing that even the powerful are sometimes powerless".

Second Home Show well received
Despite the global credit squeeze, it appears that some people still have money. AD covers the annual Second Home Show that was held in Utrecht over the weekend, reporting that the exhibition was "just as well attended as in previous years".

AD reports that prices for a second home in the sun are falling and interviews a real estate agent who says: "It's much better to invest your money in bricks and mortar than in stocks and bonds or sticking it in a savings account", adding that "banks aren't rock solid anymore".

Easy access to military base
Trouw writes that GreenLeft leader Femke Halsema is calling for a parliamentary enquiry into security at Dutch military bases after a TV programme revealed just how easy it is to gain access to a military base.

A journalist working for Undercover Nederland, which is broadcast by one of the commercial Dutch channels, bought a second-hand army uniform and marched boldly onto a base.

The reporter had no trouble gaining access to the hangars where the F-16s are kept or any other sensitive areas. He then ‘borrowed' a military vehicle and drove off the base in it.

Halsema, who is also calling for an emergency debate with the defence minister, says the programme revealed that "security at military bases in the Netherlands is a complete joke".

Rotterdam set to be green silicone valley
AD reports that Al Gore will be in the Netherlands to open Rotterdam's new Climate Campus (CC) on Monday.

The paper writes that several Dutch universities, oil companies, an energy company and an environmental organisation have joined forces to create sustainable solutions to the world's energy problems.

The CC located in Rotterdam's old port and the surrounding area will serve as a "testing ground" for the products and ideas developed by the CC. The main projects include developing methods to use excess heat from industrial processes to heat homes and producing energy from algae and the tide.

The Rotterdam city council is the driving force behind the CC and the councillor responsible for the environment and economy in the Netherlands' second city believes that it could make Rotterdam, "the silicone valley of sustainable energy production".

Bars, cafes and restaurants seek smoking compensation
The ban on smoking in public places, which came into force on 1 July, is back in the papers.

On Sunday, Horeca Nederland (KHN), an organisation representing Dutch bars, cafes and restaurants, took out a full-page ad in the populist De Telegraaf demanding compensation as owners experience financial difficulties due to the smoking ban.

According to NRC.next, KHN reports that "turnover has drastically reduced since the smoking ban went into effect" and the ban is ruining the "centuries-old atmosphere in the typical brown bars".

De Telegraaf writes that KHN is demanding government aid for bar owners in financial difficulties and quotes the organisation's spokesperson as saying: "we understand that the government doesn't have a lot of money due to the global financial crisis but the smoking ban went into effect before the credit crunch and we had warned them that there would be serious financial consequences".

[Radio Netherlands / Jacqueline Carver / Expatica]


1 reaction to this article

T. posted: 2008-10-13 13:38:24

Do these bar owners think that maybe it is an combination of the economic crisis and people not having money to go out and spend on food

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1 reaction to this article

T. posted: 2008-10-13 13:38:24

Do these bar owners think that maybe it is an combination of the economic crisis and people not having money to go out and spend on food

Add a comment
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