Dutch MEP Judith Sargentini was give a standing ovation in the European parliament on Wednesday after MEPs agreed to take disciplinary action against Hungary on the basis of a report she compiled. Parliament voted to take steps against Hungary over breaches of the EU's core values, including attacks on the media, minorities and the judiciary. More than two-thirds of MEPs backed the censure motion - the first such vote against a member state under EU rules. If national leaders also support the motion, Hungary could face sanctions and be stripped of voting rights. Sargentini said later the decision sent out an important message about citizens' rights. 'It is up to the European leaders to take their responsibility and stop watching from the sidelines as the rule of law is destroyed in Hungary,' she is quoted as saying by the BBC. 'This is unacceptable for a union that is built on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights.' Prime minister Viktor Orban said Sargentini's report was 'abuse of power and included 'serious factual misrepresentations'. Dutch anti-Islam campaigner and MP Geert Wilders described the vote on Twitter as 'a bloody shame'. 'Orban is a hero and deserves the Nobel Prize,' he said. I am so proud that my Hungary report has the support of the European Parliament, but this is foremost about the rights of Hungarian citizens. I thank my colleagues that stand for the protection of democracy and the rule of law, above their interest in party politics. — Judith Sargentini (@judithineuropa) September 12, 2018   More >

The Dutch government aims to publish draft legislation to modernise the Netherlands' tough laws on dual nationality in spring 2019, junior justice minister Mark Harbers has told MPs. 'It is a wide-ranging and complicated legal process, with far-reaching consequences for both the current laws and their practical application,' Harbers said in a long-awaited briefing. The government pledged in last year's coalition agreement that it would take steps to change the restrictive Dutch laws on nationality. In order to become Dutch, most people have to renounce their original nationality, unless they are married to a Dutch national, and Dutch nationals who take another nationality also lose their Dutch passports. Details are still sketchy but Harbers said the modernisation process will be in two parts. One will 'expand' the possibility of having more than one nationality for first generation emigrants and immigrants. 'At the same time, there will be a compulsory choice for the following generations which will not allow them to hold more than one nationality,' Harbers said. This would mean the children of Dutch nationals living in another country or foreigners in the Netherlands would have to chose which nationality to keep. 'The big concern here is the status of our children,' said Dutch expat Eelco Keij, who campaigns in support of Dutch expat rights.  'I get reactions from worried Dutchies all over the world who fear their children will be forced to make a choice between two nationalities.' Nevertheless, changes in the dual national rules are particularly current given the impact of Brexit. Some 100,000 Dutch nationals live in the UK and 87,000 first and second generation British nationals live in the Netherlands. Brexit In April, Dutch nationals living in Britain and British expats in the Netherlands urged the Dutch government to make good its pledge to modernise the law on dual nationality. So far, several hundred British nationals have taken Dutch nationality in the run up to Brexit but many are worried about the impact of losing their British passports if they do so. However, the new Dutch rules will not come into effect before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019 and may not be on the statute books before December 2020 when the transition period technically ends. Earlier this month, the German cabinet approved legislation that will allow British nationals and Germans who apply for citizenship of another country during the Brexit transition process to keep both passports. Currently EU nationals do not have to renounce their previous nationality if they become German. DutchNews.nl is currently carrying out a survey about British nationals in the Netherlands and Brexit. You can take part here.  More >

The Dutch immigration service IND has begun consulting British nationals in the Netherlands to find out what information they need about regulating their post-Brexit stay in the Netherlands. Some 45,000 adult British people live in the Netherlands and will need to have some form of permit to remain in the country after March 29 2019. As EU citizens, they do not need any form of residency permit. 'All 45,000 applications will have to be processed and as yet it is not clear how,' IND director Aly van Berkel told a group of some 40 British nationals in Amsterdam on Thursday evening. 'But by March 29, 2019, we will be staffed to handle all applications'. Few of the British nationals at Thursday's meeting had done anything yet to prepare themselves for Brexit but IND officials continually stressed that they were unable to provide answers to questions. 'Tonight is to find out how we can reach you,' one official said. 'We know you are concerned and we would love to give you the information. But as yet, we don't know what will happen.' Website The IND has a website outlining the situation so far and setting out the various options open to British nationals. 'The IND has more information than our own government,' Tane Piper, a software developer, said. Nevertheless, there is little information available for newcomers who will not meet the five-year requirement for a residency permit, several participants pointed out. In addition, British residents who have lived in the Netherlands for more than five years wanted to know if an EU residents permit will become invalid after Britain quits the EU. Third country national permits are more expensive and applicants have to go through the lengthy integration (inburgering) process to qualify. 'It would be great to get some clarity now on whether the EU residency permit is worth applying for,' said Nick Nugent, a long-term resident and chairman of the British society BritSoc. MPs questions A month ago, MPs from two ruling parties VVD and CDA, as well as the opposition Labour party, asked ministers to outline the consequences of a no-deal Brexit on British citizens in the Netherlands and Dutch nationals in Britain. ‘What perspectives do Dutch/British mixed marriage couples have to remain living and working in Britain in a no-deal scenario?,’ the MPs ask in their list of 11 questions. In addition, they want to know when, post Brexit, a Dutch/British couple would have to move to the Netherlands for the British partner to be exempt from the integration requirements which non-EU nationals have to comply with. The justice ministry will reply within the next few weeks. Dual nationality An increasing number of British nationals in the Netherlands have been applying for Dutch nationality but the ban on dual nationality is a major obstacle for those without a Dutch partner. The new government had committed to reform the laws on dual nationality but as yet, no concrete steps have been taken. A justice ministry spokesman told DutchNews.nl in April ‘no announcements’ can be made about the contents, shape and time-line for changing dual nationality legislation. DutchNews.nl has contacted the justice ministry for an update.  More >

Some 30% European Medicines Agency staff will not make the move from London to Amsterdam, forcing the organisation to temporarily scale back and suspend certain activities. 'It is clear that the agency will lose more staff than originally anticipated,' the EMA said in a statement. 'Overall EMA expects a staff loss of about 30% with a high degree of uncertainty about mid-term staff retention.' Some staff are already quitting the agency to look for other jobs ahead of the EMA's move from London to the Dutch capital after Brexit in March next year. The agency will have to move twice because the new, purpose built offices in Amsterdam's Zuidas business district will not be completed until November. The EMA originally said it expected around 80% of staff of its 900 staff would make the move to Amsterdam. That number has been cut because 135 people on short-term contracts will not be able to make the move, due to employment rules in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has tough rules on temporary employment, which prevent people being given successive short-term contracts. The Parool suggested EU salary rules, which state employees should be paid according to the cost of living in the country where they work, may also have had an impact, with staff unwilling to accept pay cuts of up to 24%. In addition the difficulty of finding a place to live in Amsterdam is a potential obstacle and EMA employees are being encouraged to look at Haarlem, The Hague, Alkmaar and Rotterdam as potential alternatives. Schools Nor does Amsterdam have an EU funded international school, forcing parents to turn to the expensive private sector or to look to other cities. Amsterdam has sent a team of relocation experts to London to help organise the move and the agency itself has started a recruitment programme to attract new staff. The agency issued a list of its activities which will be impacted by the shortage of staff. These include a scale-back of collaboration at an international level, to focus on product-related requests, as well as a reduction of its involvement in other programmes and projects.    More >