Friday 1 October 2010

Let Us Hope The Dutch Have More Backbone........

Open Europe press summary reports that:
"The coalition agreement unveiled yesterday by the three parties set to form the new government in the Netherlands notes that "with the Lisbon treaty the limit has been reached for transfers of national competences to the EU for the coming period". BN/De Stem reports that Dutch incoming Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said that the coalition will demand a further €1 billion reduction on the country’s yearly €7 billion contribution to the EU budget, as w"ell as keeping the current €1 billion rebate."
Not understanding German or Dutch I shall take their word as true and I also hope that the Dutch coalition does not have the same big yellow streak up its back that ours does!

Of course Auntie, reporting on this new Dutch government, can only mention 'facts' such as 'anti-Islamist Geert Wilders'; 'Mr Wilders is well known for his controversial far-right views', but not one mention about the limit being reached for any further transfer of national competences. 

When confronted about bias, how many times does one see a response along these lines:
"We're committed to honest, unbiased reporting and are determined to remain free from influence by outside parties, whether political or lobbyists. Our Corporation's Charter and Agreement allows us independence from political pressure and the licence fee gives us independence from advertising, shareholder or other commercial interests. Impartiality forms the cornerstone of BBC News and Current Affairs and we've nothing to gain by weighting our coverage in political terms or by allowing influence from any other outside body."
I am firmly of the opinion that the BBC considers the people of Britain 'Came up on the down train'!


Update: this post from Open Europe is worth a minute of two of your time.

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