The highest Dutch administrative court on Wednesday threw out objections to plans to build a 215 metre high skyscraper in Rotterdam's Zalmhaven. Locals say the plan will increase traffic congestion, create too much wind and spoil the atmosphere in the area, which has undergone considerable regeneration in recent years.  The Council of State, however, ruled that the city council had correctly applied zoning laws and the building can go ahead. The tower, which the developers AM and Amvest hope will open in 2020, will have 475 apartments, offices, commercial space and a panoramic roof terrace. The tower, part of a complex with two smaller buildings, would be the tallest in the Benelux region if it goes ahead. The current tallest building is the Maastoren, also in Rotterdam, which opened in 2009 and is 165 metres tall. The Zalmhaven tower will be 190 metres high with a 25 metre antenna on top. Ten of the tallest things in the Netherlands   More >

The income from donations and bequests made to Dutch charities last year rose 13%, the Volkskrant said on Thursday. In total, the country's 25 biggest good causes raised €822m from donations and bequests, the paper said. The cancer charity Kankerfonds KWF remains by far the biggest, with cash from private sources reaching €119m. The Oranjefonds, heart charity Hartstichting and the lifeboat organisation KNRM all benefited largely from bequests, the paper said. In particular, the Oranjefonds, the charity set up at the wedding of king Willem-Alexander and queen Maxima, benefited from a €51m donation from a private family trust. 'After the economic crisis of 2008, good causes had a few lean years,' the paper said. 'And that was only strengthened by concerns about how some charities were spending their money.' The upward trend first set in two years ago, and 20 of the top 25 charities were able to increase their income last year, the Volkskrant research showed.  More >

The Dutch financial services watchdog AFM has criticised the big four accountants groups for again failing to carry out adequate checks on the accounts of listed companies and banks. AFM staff carried out additional checks on 32 annual reports and found shortcomings in 19 of them. 'Although steps have been taken, the monitoring of quality by audit firms continues to be a concern and implementing the change agenda continues to be difficult,' AFM board member Gerben Everts said in a statement. 'We have also seen good audits, which proves that auditors can deliver quality. But this has to apply consistently across the board in the coming period.’   More >

Definitive figures reveal the Dutch corporate sector spent nearly €7.7bn on research and development in 2015, slightly more than in the previous year, the national statistics office CBS said. Some 56% of all R&D spending in the Netherlands in 2015 was made by the corporate sector. When the public sector (public institutions and education) are added in total R&D spending reached €13.7bn, or just over 2% of GDP. There were more thann 20,000 Dutch firms with budgets for R&D that year, but 10 large companies accounted for more than 25% of the total spend, the CBS said. Their spending was boosted by capital expenditures for laboratories and the like. R&D activities accounted for some 81,000 man/hours of work in 2015, the first time it had passed the 80,000 mark since 2011. When the public sector is tallied in, total R&D man/hours reached 129,000.   More >