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EU won't make major changes to Brexit plan, says Dutch foreign minister

European Union countries will not be prepared to make 'major changes' to British prime minister Theresa May's Brexit deal to give her a plan B following Tuesday night's historic no vote, Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok said on Tuesday evening. Speaking on television chat show Jinek, Blok said that Britain and the EU have struck 'the right balance' with the deal agreed last year. No last-minute concessions are going to be forthcoming from the EU, Blok said, adding that 'this is a strategy doomed to defeat.' May now has until Monday to come up with a new plan and 'I hope this is a good one,' Blok said. Britain is one of the Netherlands' most important trading partners and many Dutch people live in the UK and Brits in the Netherlands, he pointed out. Prime minister Mark Rutte said on Twitter that despite the setback, it does not mean Europe is in a no-deal situation. 'The next step is up to the UK,' Rutte said. I regret, yet respect the result of the vote in #HouseofCommons on current #Brexit deal. NL & EU are still behind the agreement, but will keep preparing for all scenarios. Despite this setback, it does not mean we are in a no-deal situation. The next step is up to the UK. — Mark Rutte (@MinPres) January 15, 2019 Dutch members of the European parliament have also expressed their disappointment in Tuesday evening's no vote, which May lost by 230 votes. 'My feeling is that we are right back at the beginning again,' GroenLinks MEP Bas Eickhout told reporters in Strasbourg. The British, he said, should be given a new opportunity to make their support for Brexit known, either via a second referendum or a general election, he said. Christian Democrat MEP Esther de Lange said she would like to know 'exactly what the British want'. Bad news Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Twitter that Brexit is bad news in 'economic, financial and geographic terms' whatever happens next. The Dutch cabinet's strategy remains working together with the rest of Europe to ensure as soft a Brexit as possible but 'prepare for the worst'. In alle gevallen is #Brexit voor NL en Europa slecht nieuws. Economisch, financieel en geopolitiek. Insteek kabinet is steeds geweest: met rest v Europa inzetten op een zo soft mogelijke Brexit, maar prepare for the worst. Ondernemers, bereid je goed voor: https://t.co/5uBrKjhCKG — Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) January 15, 2019 The Financieele Dagblad outlined some of the issues which still need to be solved when Britain leaves the EU. Gas and electricity networks between the two countries need to undergo technical adaptations and the gas fields need to be divided up, the paper said. Diplomas and academic qualifications will not longer be automatically recognised and doctors will have to prove that they meet the appropriate professional and language standards, the paper said. Students British students who want to start a new degree in the Netherlands in the 2019-20 academic year will be treated as third country students and that will have an impact on fees and grants. In addition, academics coming to the Netherlands for long-term research projects after March 30 will need a residency permit to do so. The Dutch customs department is currently recruiting 1,000 new officials but only 300 will be ready for duty by March 30, the paper said. More >

Wolves threat to national park: director

The director of the Hoge Veluwe national park wants wolves to be removed from the protected species list so numbers can be controlled, local paper the Gelderlander reports. In an interview with the paper, Seger Emmanuel baron van Voorst tot Voorst said wolf supporters have ‘kidnapped’ the discussion and are ignorant as to the consequences because ‘they have no land themselves.’ Van Voorst tot Voorst, a landowner himself, belongs to the European Landowners Organisation in Brussels which is lobbying for the change. The national park director said the Netherlands, which may see two wolves settle permanently in the Veluwe area this year, is too small too house more than a handful of wolves and that the Netherlands lacks the expertise to guide the process. He also said that some of the wolves have been released into the wild by people. ‘They behave in a way that is not natural. They have been spotted here walking along bike paths and roads. I have been to natural parks in Italy and Poland and people who live there have never seen a wolf in their lives. Wolves will not attack people but if it loses its natural shyness it could become dangerous,’ Van Voort tot Voort told the paper. Another argument for the possibility of culling wolves in the Hoge Veluwe is the presence of mouflon sheep which, according to Van Voort tot Voort, would become easy prey for the wolves. ‘Mouflons are essential to the park because they keep the vegetation in check and are very popular with the public,’ the paper quotes him as saying. But sheep owners in general are right to be worried too, he said. The park director says the theory supported by organisation Wolven in Nederland that wolves which have initially attacked sheep will go on to live off wildlife is ‘total nonsense’. ‘Once a wolf has tasted sheep meat it won’t be running after a deer. Grazing by sheep would no longer be possible if wolves are in the area nad they won’t be deterred by fences. (…) We live in a country of 17 million people, not the Serengeti.’ Management Wolven in Nederland spokesman Roeland Vermeulen told DutchNews.nl that management is key. The return of the wolf in the Netherlands is subject to policies agreed upon by the provincial authorities and in line with European guidelines, he said. Wolves when settled usually focus on deer and wild boar, Vermeulen said, but there is 'certainly a risk' to the mouflon population. 'The mouflon is not an indigenous animal. It was introduced to be hunted and is designed to flee to the mountains when in danger and of course that is not possible here.' 'As far as sheep are concerned with the right management these can be protected from wolves, for instance by putting them inside for the night, or behing electric fences for part of the time,' Vermeulen said. Van Voort tot Voort is right to say that there is no one in the Netherlands who has worked with wolves in the wild, Vermeulen said. 'That is simply not possible. But we have been collecting data for ten years, working with organisations, learning from experiences abroad and involving the people concerned.' More >

PVV MP accused of abusing ex wife

The ex-wife of PVV parliamentarian Dion Graus has made a police complaint against him, alleging that he hit her on one occasion and made her have sex with his bodyguards, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday. Graus, who has represented the anti-immigration party in parliament for 12 years, has denied the allegations. He told the paper his former partner is 'confused' and unable to deal with their divorce. The two separated last summer. The Telegraaf says ex-wife Joyce worked for the PVV in parliament for free for years but has now been placed on the payroll. She told the paper that Graus had forced her to have sex with his private bodyguards 'to pay them' and that he had been abusive both mentally and physically. Graus faced claims that he had beaten up another wife early into his political career. No formal charges were made against him, although the public prosecution department concluded later there had been sufficient evidence against him. Party leader Geert Wilders said that Graus had strenuously denied all the allegations against him. 'Without evidence to the contrary, I can do nothing but assume this is the case,' he said. More >

Doctor faces jail for abusing young girls

A family practitioner from Leiden faces six years in jail, followed by compulsory psychiatric treatment, for abusing seven young patients, his daughter and three of her friends. The public prosecution department told judges in The Hague on Wednesday that the man had abused the girls, all of whom were minors, and secretly filmed them at home and at his surgeries in Schiedam and Amstelveen. He should also be banned from practising as a doctor for five years - the longest ban which can be applied - the prosecutor said. Maarten B denies abusing the girls at his surgery, saying that his actions were in line with a careful medical examination. He also claimed to hardly remember abusing his daughter and filming her and her friends. He denies distributing pornography and told the court the 1,200 photos of naked girls on his computer were a bi-product of downloading ordinary films. At one point, he was thrown into a pond by an angry father when he was caught filming up a girl's skirt at the Madurodam miniature village in The Hague, the AD said in its report on the case. More >

Locals want help Rutte to combat pollution

The inhabitants of the seaside village of Wijk aan Zee have taken out a full page advert in the Volkskrant calling on prime minister Mark Rutte to take action to stop the pollution from companies Tata Steel and Harsco in nearby IJmuiden, broadcaster NOS reports. In the ad, action group IJmondig claims there is 'a serious environmental problem and our local and regional authorities are incapable of protecting us from one of the two biggest CO2 producers in the country.’ ‘We are finding black graphite dust on our sleeping childrens’ duvets (..). A rainbow of chemical substances can be found on our sinks, window sills, dining tables and cars. Sometimes it’s white silicone fixative, often graphite and sometimes a brown substance or a grey sticky one,’ the ad goes on to say. The graphite comes from Harsco Metals, which processes slag, a residual by-product of steel on the Tata site. In October last year Tata and Harsco announced they would be working together to solve the problem but said 'it would take time because of design and permit procedures'. Among the health problems cited by the group are lung problems, headaches, dizziness and nausea and lack of concentration. Tata Steel was given a subsidy of €35m by the Dutch government to build a new type of smelter with lower CO2 emissions but, IJmondig points out, it will take a long time to develop and will also be built first at a Tata site in India. According to the group, the volume of emissions in the area far exceed the legally permitted amount. ‘A proper Dutch politician would bang his fist on the table and cry STOP!,’ the ad reads. IJmondig has invited Rutte to come to the seaside town for coffee ‘or a glass of jenever once he has seen the photographs of the pollution’. More >

Yellow vest death: 'lorry was attacked'

The Dutch lorry driver suspected of killing a yellow vest demonstrator in Belgium last week claims to have been attacked by ’10 to 20 men in camouflage gear’, his lawyer has told local broadcaster 1 Limburg. The driver, who has turned himself into Belgian police, says he did not see any yellow vests during the incident, which took place last Friday. The man, who comes from Landgraaf in Limburg, has not been taken into custody but is getting protection because of fears he could be the subject of revenge attacks, lawyer Richard Wagemans said. The driver claims to have been unaware he had hit anyone until contacted by police at the weekend, Wagemans said. Demonstrators in yellow vests blocked the motorway from Liege to Maastricht last week, stopping lorries but allowing private vehicles to go through. According to earlier reports, the Dutch lorry refused to stop and the 50-year-old demonstrator died at the scene of the protest. Other reports suggest that the lorry's windscreen was smashed by demonstrators before the fatal accident happened. More >

Sjinkie Kneght 'back on ice next season'

Dutch short track speed skater Sjinkie Knegt, who was hospitalised last week with severe burns after an accident, has been released from intensive care and hopes to compete again next season. 'Sjinkie is going all out to be back on the ice next season,' his manager Dennis Klaster told the Telegraaf. 'He has not lost his fighting spirit.' Meanwhile coach Jeroen Otten told a television sports show on Monday that the skater has made major strides. 'We are going to a training camp abroad in May and he says that he will be part of the pack,' Otten said. Knegt suffered burns to his face, chest, legs and feet in the accident at his home in the Frisian village of Bantega last Thursday. Knegt is the most successful Dutch short track skater ever. He was world champion in 2015 and took the European titles in 2012, 2105 and 2018. More >

Brits sue Dutch to keep nationality rights

Four British nationals living in the Netherlands are suing the Dutch government for clarity about their continued rights to be EU citizens – deal or no deal. As MPs in Westminster prepare to vote on Theresa May’s Brexit accord, the four have brought a civil case in which they accuse the Dutch government of giving unclear and inaccurate advice. In a court hearing in Amsterdam on Monday, they asked a judge to help them confirm whether they can work, study or travel abroad in the next 18 months without losing their rights and benefits in the Netherlands. Lawyer Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm, of bureau Brandeis, said the Britons he is representing are living in ‘massive uncertainty’. He claimed that under EU law their EU citizenship is now an ‘autonomous right’ that cannot be taken away, and that the IND immigration service is giving damaging, ‘incorrect and misleading’ advice. The case is a follow-up to an attempt last year to force the European Court of Justice to rule on the rights of individual British citizens under article 20 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union. Earlier this month foreign minister Stef Blok announced that the government would make a ‘decent solution’ for Brits in the Netherlands, so they could stay with or without a Brexit deal. His two-and-a-half page letter outlines a 15-month transition period, after which the British nationals in the Netherlands will need a special permit. This week, around 45,000 British immigrants to the Netherlands received a letter from the IND saying ‘British nationals are no longer EU citizens as of 29 March 2019’, and asking them to apply for a residence permit for after 1 July 2020. 'Landlocked' But the court case claims that the IND assertion that Brits will automatically and globally lose their EU citizenship is incorrect, and says that they may be unjustly ‘landlocked’ during the Dutch 15-month transition period. They want to know if their children can study abroad in London, for instance, without losing their rights to return to the Netherlands, and whether they can work abroad without losing pensions and residency. Lawyers defending the state argued that the case should be brought before a different court for immigration matters, adding that the only ‘damages’ the defendants would suffer as third country applicants for Dutch residency would be that ‘they would have to follow language courses.’ Politics They argued that the ‘complex politics’ around Brexit meant that the state could not provide more clarity to Brits in the Netherlands, and that the matter was not urgent. According to the CBS national statistics agency, there are over 47,000 first generation British nationals in the Netherlands plus a further 38,500 children and adults who were born here, most of whom are dual nationals. The Dutch government estimated that without some kind of deal or permit, 20,000 British adults would lose access to the jobs market. The judge asked for an extended period of three weeks before ruling. ‘I understand your wish to have clarity from the justice system,’ she told the plaintiffs. ‘A lot of people, perhaps also from the government’s side, understand this too. But I must judge this from a judicial point of view, on the legal arguments.’ She added that she would take into account the result of the Brexit accord vote and future UK developments. You can comment on this in the comments section below More >

EU won't make major changes to Brexit plan, says Dutch foreign minister

PVV MP accused of abusing ex wife

Doctor faces jail for abusing young girls

Locals want help Rutte to combat pollution

Yellow vest death: 'lorry was attacked'

Sjinkie Kneght 'back on ice next season'

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