The Netherlands: COVID-19 in Europe: Netherlands to allow bars, restaurants and cultural venues to reopen

The Dutch government has announced that bars, restaurants, museums, theatres and other venues are to be allowed to re-open under conditions, loosening some of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions in Europe.

For more than a month, bars, restaurants, and cultural venues have been closed, while strict quarantine rules have shut a quarter of primary school classes in the Netherlands.

The announcement by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday evening comes despite record new coronavirus infection levels, as hospitalisations from the country's Omicron wave have been lower than initially feared.

Read more at: COVID-19 in Europe: Netherlands to allow bars, restaurants and cultural venues to reopen | Euronews

The Netherlands: Omicron now dominant in NL, new coronavirus cases fall 11% in a week

The Omicron variant of coronavirus is now dominant in the Netherlands, public health institute RIVM said on Tuesday. The variant now accounts for over than 50% of new cases, the RIVM said in its latest weekly update. The number of positive coronavirus cases reported to the RIVM fell 11% to 84,400 in the past week, but experts say this is likely to rise as Omicron spreads.

Read more at: Omicron now dominant in NL, new coronavirus cases fall 11% in a week - DutchNews.nl

The Netherlands: Coronavirus: Dutch court dismisses call to scrap 'corona pass' regulations

A Dutch court on Wednesday dismissed a call to scrap the ‘corona pass’ required to enter

The court in The Hague said the government had the right to demand proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test to limit the spread of the coronavirus as most other social distancing measures were lifted last month.

Read more at: Coronavirus: Dutch court dismisses call to scrap 'corona pass' regulations | Cyprus Mail

Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map

As expected, the whole of the Netherlands will remain red on the European Union's coronavirus risk level map for seven more days. Over 4.6 percent of all coronavirus tests performed in the Netherlands over the past two weeks were positive, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Health to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Anything over 4 percent during a two-week period puts an entire country at the red level. Red is the second highest warning color on the map that the European health service ECDC produces every Thursday. All twelve provinces were also at red last week.

Flevoland is relatively the largest fire in the country. In the past two weeks, 281 out of every 100,000 inhabitants tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That is considerably lower than last week's calculation. Friesland follows, but the number of positive tests there is almost 19 percent higher than with data used to produce last week's ECDC map. With 254 cases per capita, Friesland has overtaken Noord-Holland (244), Zuid-Holland (241) and Overijssel (227). The number of cases is also increasing in Utrecht.

Read more at: Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map | NL Times

The Netherlands: Dutch PM Rutte Hopes to Lift Social Distancing Rules Sept 20

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday said the government is considering lifting social distancing rules on Sept. 20 as COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands ease.

In the week ended Aug. 10, cases fell by 14% in the Netherlands to 103 per 100,000 inhabitants, the country's National Institute for Health (RIVM) found.

Read more at: Dutch PM Rutte Hopes to Lift Social Distancing Rules Sept 20 | World News | US News

The Netherlands: What the Dutch court carbon emissions ruling means for Shell

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to significantly deepen planned greenhouse gas emission cuts, in a landmark ruling that could pave the way for legal action against energy companies around the world. read more

Shell said it was "disappointed" by the ruling which it plans to appeal.

Here are some key points about the ruling:

WHAT WAS THE RULING? The district court ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Shell currently aims to reduce the carbon intensity of products it sells by 20% over the same period from a 2016 baseline.

DOES THE RULING AFFECT SHELL'S GLOBAL OPERATIONS? Yes. The reduction relates to Shell's global operations and is not limited to the Netherlands, the court ruling said. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SHELL? The ruling said that "it is up to RDS (Royal Dutch Shell) to design the reduction obligation, taking account of its current obligations and other relevant circumstances." Shell earlier this year announced a strategy to become a net zero emissions company by 2050, meaning its absolute emissions will also be net zero at that point. It has stated that it believes its emissions peaked in 2018.[USN:L1N2KH0LV] ABSOLUTE TARGETS VS INTENSITY TARGETS? The court ordered Shell to reduce absolute emissions by 45%. Shell's short and medium-term targets are intensity based. Intensity-based targets measure the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy produced. That means that absolute emissions can rise with growing production, even if the headline intensity metric falls. At its annual general meeting this month, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden rejected setting absolute reduction targets, saying: "Reducing absolute emissions at this point in time is predominantly possible by shrinking the business."

HOW BIG ARE SHELL'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS? Shell, the world's largest oil and gas trader, produced 1.38 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2020, roughly 4.5% of global energy-related emissions that year, based on International Energy Agency figures. Shell's 2020 emissions were down from 1.65 billion tonnes the previous year, largely as a result of a fall in oil and gas demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read More at: Explainer: What the Dutch court carbon emissions ruling means for Shell | Reuters

The Netherlands: World's most expensive drug may not be covered by Dutch insurance

A drug to treat a rare muscle disease which affects some 20 children in the Netherlands a year should not be included in the basic insurance package unless the price is halved, government advisory group Zorginstituut Nederland has said in new recommendations.

In addition, pharmaceutical company Novartis should also agree to payment on the basis of the actual results, the institute said. Zolgensma, known as the most expensive drug in the world, is used to treat spinal muscular dystrophy (SMA) and costs €1.9m per treatment. The institute estimates that if the cost were halved, the drug would add some €11m to the Dutch healthcare budget a year.

Read more at: World's most expensive drug may not be covered by Dutch insurance - DutchNews.nl

Netherlands keeps crown as world’s best pension system - by Rachel Fixsen, Venilia Amorim

The Dutch pension system has won the highest score in the latest Global Pension Index report from Mercer, with the international consultancy using this year’s publication to sound a stern warning on the impact of the pandemic on retirement income systems around the world.

In the 2020 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index report – previously called the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index – which awards national pension systems points for adequacy, integrity and sustainability as well as giving them an overall score, the Netherlands came top with 82.6 points, followed by Denmark with 81.4 and Israel with 74.7 points.

Read more at: ​Netherlands keeps crown as world’s best pension system | News | IPE

The Netherlands: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub - by Ben Chapman

Amsterdam has surpassed London as Europe’s leading share trading hub in the wake of Brexit.

An average €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, according to data from CBOE Europe first reported by the Financial Times.

EU-based financial firms are banned from trading in London because the EU has not recognised UK regulations on exchanges as equivalent to its own.

Read more at: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub | The Independent

The Netherlands: Coranavirus Repatriation €10 million fund launched to bring Dutch Citizens back to the Netherlands

Travelers stuck outside of the Netherlands due to flights being halted or severely limited in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic have a new option to get help to return home. A ten-million euro fund was launched on Monday to provide assistance to stranded fliers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

Essentially, passengers will contribute 300 euros for their own repatriation if returning back from the European Union or 20 countries near the EU. The personal contribution rises to 900 euros for countries further away from the list of EU-adjacent countries.

"We need to do our utmost to get these people home safely," said Stef Blok, the Dutch foreign minister, of the complicated situation. "Because of the huge impact of the coronavirus, this group in particular really has nowhere else to turn."

Read more at: €10 million fund launched to bring people back to Netherlands | NL Times

Netherlands - Social Security Fraud: UN rapporteur criticises Dutch system to identify social security fraud

UN human rights and
poverty rapporteur Philip Alston has criticised the way the Netherlands
is using an automated system to identify social security fraud,
broadcaster NOS said on Tuesday.

Alston has said in a letter to a court in The Hague that the system goes
against human rights because it appears to discriminate against people
with little money and people with a minority background.

Campaigners are taking the Dutch state to court to force officials to
stop experimenting with the scheme, known as SyrRi after a trial in
Rotterdam was abandoned this summer.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

UN human rights and poverty rapporteur Philip Alston has criticised the way the Netherlands is using an automated system to identify social security fraud, broadcaster NOS said on Tuesday. 

Alston has said in a letter to a court in The Hague that the system goes against human rights because it appears to discriminate against people with little money and people with a minority background.

Campaigners are taking the Dutch state to court to force officials to stop experimenting with the scheme, known as SyrRi after a trial in Rotterdam was abandoned this summer.

Read more at: UN rapporteur criticises Dutch system to identify social security fraud - DutchNews.nl

EU Economy: Netherlands has the most competitive economy in Europe says WEF

https://nltimes.nl/2019/10/09/netherlands-eus-competitive-economy-wef

US-Netherlands relations: Rutte's visit to Washington focuses on jobs and security issues

 During their press conference, Trump was asked about the racist chanting made during a speech at which he again criticized four congresswomen.

The questioning made Rutte visibly uneasy, the Volkskrant said. In 2017, Rutte was himself at the centre of a similar row when he told a Dutch newspaper people who are not happy living in the Netherlands and with the way things are done should leave. And in 2016, he said a group of Dutch Turks demonstrating in Rotterdam should ‘eff off’.

The visit ended with a special ceremony to hand over a US flag which flew during the Normandy landings in 1944. The flag had been bought by a Dutch art collector at auction in 2016 for €450,000 and he decided to donate it to the US. My visit to the White House came to an end with a special ceremony. On D-Day in 1944, the first navigation vessels landed on Utah Beach, Normandy under this very flag. Today this flag returned home, after its Dutch owners presented it to President Trump

Read more: Rutte's visit to Washington focuses on jobs and security issues - DutchNews.nl - Live

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The Netherlands: Dutch hit back at "over - tourism"

Not Disneyland': Dutch hit back at 'over-tourism' -

Read more at;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46194330

The Netherlands UN ICJ: Iran - US Relations- Sanctions US ordered to halt 'humanitarian' Iran sanctions in blow for Trump - by Jan HENNOP, Danny KEMP

The UN's top court ordered the United States Wednesday to suspend sanctions on "humanitarian" goods for Iran in a stunning setback for US President Donald Trump.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) handed down the bombshell judgement after Iran asked it to halt economic measures that Trump reimposed after pulling out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Judges in The Hague unanimously ruled that the sanctions on some goods breached a 1955 "friendship treaty" between Iran and the US that predates Iran's Islamic Revolution.

"The court finds unanimously that... the United States of America... shall remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on 8 May to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities" as well as airplane parts, chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said.

The court said sanctions on goods "required for humanitarian needs... may have a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals on the territory of Iran."

Read more: US ordered to halt 'humanitarian' Iran sanctions in blow for Trump

The Netherlands: Dutch Banks feeling pressure

Read more at :

https://www.artfuleconomist.com/2018/04/23/dutch-banks-feel-the-fear-index-pain-clk-2/?net=efx&sxid=375256e1xvuy

Europe: How Markets View European Unity Vs. Disintegration - by Erik Norland

EU-US: It is high time for a divorce

Opposing forces championing integration versus disintegration are assailing Europe. In the past two years, both sides have scored important victories. Britain's Brexit, Spain's Catalonian independence referendum and the entry of the nationalist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party to the German parliament, or Bundestag, were victories for proponents of lesser European unity. The electoral defeat of far-right forces in the Netherlands and the victory of Emmanuel Macron in France were celebrated by those favoring the guiding principle of an "ever closer union."

Whatever one thinks of Brexit, the prospects for deeper European integration and the legitimacy of the various national independence movements, the currency markets' view is unambiguous: they strongly favor deeper political integration:

• When exit polls mistakenly called the Brexit referendum for the "Remain" voters, the British pound (GBP) rallied from 1.45 to 1.50 versus the U.S. dollar (USD) before crashing, first to 1.32 and later to as low as 1.18 versus the USD when the "Leave" victory became apparent. The euro fell 3% versus the USD on the day of the Brexit referendum and fell nearly 10% versus the USD within six months.
• Euro rallied 2% versus the USD in the week after Dutch voters dashed the hopes of Geert Wilder's eurosceptic Party for Freedom.
• Euro soared more than 10% to a two-and-a-half-year high in the weeks after Macron won the French presidential election on a platform advocating domestic economic reform and deeper European integration.
• September's German election results halted this advance after it became apparent that not only did AfD enter the Bundestag, as expected, but that Angela Merkel underperformed the polls by about 5-6% and would have to create an unwieldy coalition with the enthusiastically pro-European Greens and the Free Democrats, who oppose deeper economic integration.
• Catalonia's independence referendum led to a 1% one-day decline in the euro, further offsetting gains from the Macron victory. Ninety percent of Catalans voted to leave Spain in the referendum on October 1 that the Spanish state considers illegal and attempted to repress with force, leading to nearly 900 injuries.

Note EU-Digest: The obvious question therefore is: "if deeper unification of Europe is good for business in general , why has the Trump Administration been supporting Brexit and other nationalist movements in Europe, directly undermining European Unity?"

When will the European Union, in particular the EU Commission, EU-Parliament and member states wake up to the fact that a strong united Europe, with an independent foreign policy is not in the interest of the US, whatever they might say to the contrary.

You also do not have to be an Einstein to recognize that the US Foreign Policy has usually been based on a"divide and conquer" doctrine, with the Trump Administration now openly championing this doctrine. 

Obviously a fractured EU. would give the US a wide open playing field in Europe, with very little resistance from individual countries, to oppose major US policy decisions in a variety of areas, which could have a negative effect on the well-being of European citizens.

Yes indeed EU citizens, the motto: "United we Stand, Divided we Fall" is more important today than ever before. 

Read more: Europe: How Markets View Unity Vs. Disintegration | Seeking Alpha

Tax Systems - money is not determinating factor: The happiest countries in the world also pay a lot in taxes

The US Tax System needs an overhaul

The happiest countries in the world in 2017 are prosperous Western-style liberal democracies.

Their populations are, in many cases, largely homogeneous. And they also have something else in common: They each pay a lot in taxes.

According to the United Nations' latest World Happiness Report, as covered by CBS News, the top 10 happiest countries are:
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden

Report co-author Jeffrey Sachs, who is also the director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, tells CBS that "happiness is a result of creating strong social foundations," and that if other nations prioritized "social trust" and "healthy lives," they could also find that their citizens become more content.

The top three happiest countries, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, are all among the highest taxed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in terms of total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP. The widely enjoyed social benefits residents get in exchange for their taxes, such as universal health care, access to education and subsidized parental leave, could have something to do with the "strong social foundations" touted by Sachs.

Note EU-Digest: These countries are happy, mainly for all the services they are getting in exchange for paying high taxes. Specially in the area of healthcare and low pharmaceutical costs, obviously also by enjoying great infrastructural advantages and obviously modern public transportation systems. In America right-wing politicians (mainly Republicans) have figured out that by telling the taxpayers they pay the lowest taxes in the world, it will make  corrupt practices by them easier. Unfortunately over time this made the US taxpayer the big loser.

Read more: The happiest countries in the world also pay a lot in taxes

The Netherlands - Toxic eggs: Albert Heijn removes 14 types of eggs from its shelves as scandal spreads

The Netherlands’ biggest supermarket group Albert Heijn said on Thursday it is removing 14 different types of eggs from its shelves, as the uncertainty over pesticide contamination continues.

The measure is a precautionary one, the company said. Among the eggs to be removed are the company’s own brand free-range and organic eggs. It had already removed some eggs earlier this week, website Nu.nl reported. Jumbo, the second biggest Dutch supermarket group has also removed some types of eggs from its stores,

Nu.nl reported, as has German supermarket group REWE. ‘We want to give our clients total transparency,’ the German company said in a statement. Farmers say they are extremely unhappy at the supermarkets’ decision and describe it as an over-reaction.

The government said earlier on Thursday that farmers themselves will have to pick up the bill for the product recall following the discovery of the contamination with a banned pesticide.

The Dutch food and product safety board has come under fire from experts, MPs and farmers for the way it is handling the ongoing contaminated egg scandal.

The NVWA first said there was no danger to human health and then issued a warning about certain batches of eggs, only for its deputy director to suggest a day later consumers should avoid eggs altogether until tests for a banned pesticide have been completed.

Note EU-Digest:  Hopefully the Dutch Government will not be swayed by lobbyists from Chemical companies to put their head in the sand and clean-up the apparently poorly functioning government food inspection services (NVWA). It is also strange no one is questioning who the makers of the pesticide are,  causing this calamity and why it is allowed by local EU Governments to being used in the food chain? Unfortunately this is probably just the top of the iceberg, when it comes to the use of pesticides in the European food chain.

Read more: Albert Heijn removes 14 types of eggs from its shelves as scandal spreads - DutchNews.nl

Germany - G20 meeting: Merkel Signals She’ll Snub Trump’s Demand to Spend More on Defense - by Arne Delfs

Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled that Germany will refuse U.S. demands to bring forward planned increases in defense spending, saying that extra outlays are already being made.

President Donald Trump, who has said that Germany “owes vast sums of money” to NATO, is due to travel to Europe later this month for a meeting in Brussels of North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders, including the German chancellor.

Merkel, speaking in Berlin on Thursday after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the goals of the May 25 meeting, said the German government was committed to raising spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2024 “and is working on it.”

“In past years we have shown that we have made increases, so I see no need for further provisions on May 25,” the chancellor said.

Germany increased its defense budget by 8 percent this year to about 37 billion euros ($40.1 billion), though it still falls far short of the 2 percent of GDP target. Merkel also argues that development aid should be taken into account as a security component.

In a tweet sent a day after hosting Merkel at the White House, Trump said the U.S. “must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”

Note EU-Digest: this is another indication that Europe needs its own defense force with a different mandate and budget than that of the NATO. Europe should also not get involved in sending additional European Troops (as part of NATO) into the Afganistan "swamp", and a war there that has now been going on for 15 years - as is presently being discussed in the Pentagon.

Read more: Merkel Signals She’ll Snub Trump’s Demand to Spend More on Defense - Bloomberg