EU-DIGEST

Largest ever Dutch Trade delegation visits Turkey - The Netherlands one of Turkey's most important investors

The Largest ever Dutch trade delegation is in Turkey this week - A truly Dutch economic invasion of Turkey. The delegation includes a total of 134 company representatives ranging from Personnel Management to Environmental Companies, and every other category in between. One newspaper reported that even some buses in Turkey are carrying banners with the slogan "Holland Pioneers in International Business".

The Dutch delegation is headed by his Excellency Frank Heemskerk, the Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs. Turkish PM his Excellency Recep Erdogan was so impressed by the size of the delegation that he changed his agenda to be able to receive the delegation later this week in Ankara.Yesterday the Dutch delegation cruised the Bosporus.

The Netherlands is one of the most important investors in Turkey. Last year Dutch investments in Turkey amounted to approximately euro 8.45 billion (US$11b. Turkey is also the 4th most important non-EU member trading partner of the Netherlands after Russia, Switzerland and the US.

The Turkish-Dutch who are citizens of the Netherlands of Turkish ancestry numbered 357,900 people in 2006, according to the Dutch Census Bureau. They make up 2.2% of the total population. The majority of Dutch Turks live in the four major cities of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). The first Turks arrived in the 1960s and 1970s as workers to fill up the labor shortage during that time in the Netherlands, as well as in other Western European countries. The majority of Dutch Turks adhere to Sunni Islam, although there is also a considerable Alevi fragment. A number of Turkish-Dutch writers have come to prominence. Halil Gür was one of the earliest, writing short stories about Turkish immigrants. Sadik Yemni is well known for his Turkish-Dutch detective stories. Sevtap Baycili is a more intellectual novelist, who's writing is not limited to migrant themes. Nebahat Albayrak (born April 10, 1968 in Şarkışla) is a Turkish-Dutch politician in the Netherlands. She is the current State Secretary of Justice in the Netherlands.

Labels: Commerce, EU, Netherlands, Trade, Turkey

Dutch take Islamic Ramadan festival as their own - by Paolo Gallini

According to a new poll, the Dutch have adopted the Sugar Feast, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month Ramadan, as one of their favorite cultural traditions.The choice of the festival followed a poll by the Dutch Center for Folk Culture. It came 14th in the list of 100 top traditions. The center (Nederlands Centrum voor Volkscultuur, NCV) asked several thousand people to name traditions that they considered important for themselves or for the Netherlands as a whole. No shortlist of options was drawn up in advance. Queen Beatrix in Hilversum unveiled the top 100 at the opening of the Year of the Traditions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top choice in the poll was the feast of Sinterklaas. This Dutch precursor of Santa Claus, celebrated each year on December 5, is followed on the list by the decoration of a Christmas Tree. In third place is Queen's Day on April 30.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Ramadan

Sinterklaas and his helpers arrive in Almere, Europe's most modern City"

Special report on Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas, is an annual European event which has been uniquely Dutch and Flemish for centuries. The actual St. Nicholas' celebration, December 6th, is observed in most Roman Catholic countries primarily as a feast for small children. But it is only in the Low Countries - especially in the Netherlands - that on December 5th, the eve of his birthday, it is celebrated nationwide by young and old. Christian and non-Christian all having fun, without any religious overtones. The Sinterklaas celebrations on December 5, when St Nicholas visits children accompanied by his Moorish servants called Zwarte Piet, is the most important Dutch tradition, according to a poll for the Dutch folk culture centre NCV. Although Sinterklaas always wears the clothes of the bishop he once was, his original status as a canonized saint has little to do with what the Dutch think of him. To them he represents a kind benevolent old man, whose birthday is observed by exchanging gifts and making good-natured fun of each other. It so happens that the legend of St. Nicholas is based on historical facts. He did actually exist and lived from 271 A.D. to December 6th, 343. People still visit his 4th century tomb in the town of Myra, near the city of Anatolia in present-day Turkey, which was recently excavated has by archaeologists. Santa Claus the fat, jolly man wearing a red coat and trousers with white cuffs and collar, and black leather and who became popular in the United States in the 19th century is a commercial offshoot of ST.Nicolas, maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films. In Europe he is called Father Christmas.

In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas made his early appearance at the end of November in Europe's most modern City Almere, to the delight of the children and of course the shopkeepers.

Labels: Almere, EU, Netherlands, Sinterklaas, Tradition

EUROPEANA - EU Presents Ambitious Open-Source Library Digitization Project - Site Promptly gets 10 million hits per hour and crashes

A cadre of European politicians gathered Thursday at the Museum of the 18th century in Brussels to launch Europeana, a digital museum that allows visitors to explore classic paintings, photos, recordings and texts in the same manner in which it is possible to search, say, Amazon.com. Trying to access Europeana on the day of its launch, though, was akin to navigating the Vatican Museums in the tourist-thick month of August. It was impossible to see anything, as the project’s three servers were totally overwhelmed. The Commission said Saturday in a press release that the site received about 10 million hits per hour throughout Thursday - double server capacity.

The site was taken down Friday evening and is expected to be back up in mid-December.

Technical challenges included harvesting and normalizing metadata from more than 1,000 different museums and libraries from around Europe. Half of participating cultural heritage institutions so far are French. The Louvre in Paris, the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (which contributed footage shot on French battlefields in 1914) and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are three of the biggest participating museums.

Europeana, which is still in beta, was programmed using only open source applications. Everything on Europeana is allowed to be downloaded. Europeana’s three servers are located in the Hague, where the project is headquartered, but programmers plan eventually to put mirror servers around the world.

Labels: EU, Europeana, France, Internet, Netherlands, Search Engines

Netherlands to Spend EU6 Billion to Stimulate Economy - by Fred Pals and Jurjen van de Pol

The Dutch government will spend more than 1 percent of gross domestic product, or about 6 billion euros ($7.5 billion), to stimulate the nation's economy. The government measures will include temporarily subsidizing company payrolls and speeding up infrastructure spending, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said at a press conference in The Hague. ``A lot needs to be done, and it is a tough time,'' Balkenende said today. ``Europe has been hit by the financial crisis and there's clearly an influence on the real economy now.''

The Dutch economy came to a standstill in the second and third quarters. It still outpaced the economy of the 15-nation euro region, which slipped into its first recession since the 1999 introduction of the single currency. The European Union is working on a 130 billion-euro ($163 billion) stimulus package to bolster growth, German officials have said.

Labels: EU, Netherlands

European Soccer - Netherlands beats Sweden 3-1 in friendly

Robin Van Persie scored two goals Wednesday to give the injury-depleted Netherlands a comfortable 3-1 win over Sweden in an international friendly.

Wesley Sneijder took a short corner and then exchanged passes with Ryan Babel on the left flank before crossing for Van Persie, who put the Netherlands in front with a header in the 33rd minute. Van Persie scored his second in the 48th, beating Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson from 15 meters (yards) after he was played in by substitute Rafael van der Vaart. Kim Kallstrom pulled one back for Sweden in the 50th, scoring from the edge of the box, but Dirk Kuyt headed in Tim de Cler's cross in injury time to wrap up the win.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Soccer, Sweden

ING Posts First Loss, May Have Additional Writedowns - by Martijn van der Starre

ING Groep NV, the financial-services firm that got a 10 billion-euro ($12.6 billion) lifeline from the Netherlands last month, said writedowns amounted to 1.51 billion euros in the third quarter and may extend through year end. The loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, the first since the company was created in 1991, was 478 million euros, or 22 cents a share, it said today in a statement. That was less than the 500 million-euro loss it forecast last month and compared with net income of 2.31 billion euros, or 1.08 euros, in the year-earlier period. ING rose as much as 3.8 percent in Amsterdam trading.

Labels: EU, European Bailout, ING, Netherlands

The European Commission was wrong to ban the Netherlands from making soot filters on diesel vehicles compulsory, the European Court of Justice said today. The court said the Commission had not taken the country’s highly concentrated population and infrastructure into account, reports Reuters news agency. The Netherlands wanted to introduce the filter in 2006, arguing it could not meet Commission targets on exhaust pollution without them. Brussels plans to make them compulsory next year and said it did not want the Netherlands to go it alone, a position upheld by the court last year.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Pollution and the environment

Marijuana with Viagra topping selling on Netherlands’ streets

While analysing a liquid, which was being sold on the streets of Utrecht, Netherlands, as a “marijuana adulterant”, researchers have discovered Viagra-like compounds in it. The team led by Dries de Kaste from National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven has identified compounds called homosildenafil (HS) and thiohomosildenafil (THS) that belong to the in the same class of compounds called sildenafil, sold as Viagra. Although De Kaste still needs to know why HS and THS are being added to cannabis, but she believes that it could be to enhance the uptake of its psychoactive constituents or to exploit a perception that marijuana use affects libido.

Labels: EU, Marijuana, Netherlands

Iran opens trade center in Netherlands

The Mehr News Agency quoted TPOI Director for Foreign Branches Affairs Hamid Zadbum as saying that a number of Iranian and Dutch traders as well as Iran-Netherlands Cultural Council members also attended the inaugural ceremony. The two sides expressed hope that the trade center would pave the way for the two-way trade in the long run, Zadbum said, adding, they announced their full-fledged support of any activity which would enhance bilateral economic and commercial relations.

Labels: EU, Iran, Netherlands, Trade

Dutch say unlocked bike not enticement to steal

The Dutch Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a bicycle thief who stole a decoy bike planted by police. Lawyers for the convicted thief — a repeat offender who was sentenced to 22 days in jail — had argued that leaving the bike unlocked amounted to entrapment. But the five-judge court has rejected that, saying the man wasn't personally targeted.Tuesday's court ruling said placing an unlocked decoy bike didn't make the suspect do anything he had not intended doing beforehand.

Labels: EU, Judicial System, justice, Netherlands

Netherlands Conference Held At Turkish Foreign Ministry

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has said that the Netherlands was a powerful partner of Turkey, and they aimed at further intensifying and deepening the bilateral relations with that country in all areas. Babacan attended the Second Turkey-Netherlands Conference at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen who is currently in Ankara on a formal visit. Speaking at the conference, Babacan said that the Netherlands was one of the countries making the most investments in Turkey. Our bilateral trade has been rapidly growing, he said. "More than 400 thousand people of Turkish descent live in the Netherlands. We expect number of Dutch tourists spending their holidays in Turkey to exceed 1 million by the end of this year. Relations between Turkish and Dutch peoples constitute an important part of the relations between the two countries," Babacan said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen, in his part, expressed his profound sorrow over killing of Turkish police officers in Wednesday`s terrorist attack in Diyarbakir. Referring to the bilateral relations, Verhagen said that the 400th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands would be celebrated in 2012. Verhagen said that Turkey was the fourth biggest commercial partner of the Netherlands.

Labels: Economy, EU, Netherlands, Tourism, Turkey

For the complete report from Radio Netherlands Worldwide click on this link

A growing number of Dutch provinces and councils have revealed huge investments in the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers bank and in Iceland's failed financial institutions. The Dutch government says that more than 250 million euros worth of taxpayers' money was invested or deposited in now-bankrupt financial institutions. It is not yet clear if it will be possible to get any of the money back. The hardest hit province is North Holland, it had 100 million euros invested with Lehman Brothers and Iceland's Landesbanki. Groningen has also been hard hit; it had 30 million euros deposited in an Icelandic bank. With 15 million euros deposited in Landesbanki, Amstelveen tops the list of municipalities facing huge losses. Texel stands to lose eight million, while Opmeer is facing losses of seven million. The authorities in Opmeer say they could be facing serious problems if they do not get the money back. The cabinet is considering measures to help regional authorities experiencing difficulties. Finance Minister Wouter Bos says that in future, provincial and municipal authorities should not be allowed to invest taxpayers' money themselves and recommended that money be deposited in the Dutch Municipal Bank.

Labels: Economy, EU, Iceland, meltdown, Netherlands

Netherlands, Iceland reach deal on deposits

The Dutch and Icelandic governments reached an agreement Saturday over how to compensate Dutch depositors at one of Iceland's troubled banks. Under the deal, the Icelandic government will compensate each Dutch depositor up to a maximum of 20,887 euros (US$28,281.6). The government of the Netherlands is offering a loan to Iceland to make that possible. The money will go to those holding accounts with IceSave, an online company that was part of Landsbanki, an Icelandic bank recently put into receivership.

Labels: EU, Iceland, Netherlands

Netherlands: William of Orange, a practicing Muslim

A report about a Leiden historian who claims that William of Orange was a practicing Muslim (NL) has spread like wildfire on the (Dutch speaking) internet. According to the report historian 'Tjalling Wenselaar' claims that William of Orange should appear in the history books as Yusuf Ibrahim of Orange Nassau. William's conversion to Islam, occurring in the spring of 1582, was 'strategic'. "In return for his conversion to Islam and Islamisizing the Dutch provinces, the Moorish khalif Abdul Abu Uzrim promised William military aid in in fight against the Spanish," according to Wenselaar. Since William was killed shortly afterward and his son loved wine and pork too much, it did not bring about the Islamization of the Netherlands. The Oranges tried to erase all traces of the conversion of their ancestor.

Labels: EU, Islam, Netherlands

GDF Suez to buy Dutch North Sea assets - by Rebecca Bream

Newly-formed French energy group GDF Suez said on Friday it was in exclusive talks to buy over €1bn worth of offshore oil and gas assets from a Dutch venture owned by Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. The exploration, production and transportation assets are situated in the Dutch North Sea and includes stakes of between 30 and 60 per cent in five producing fields. Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (Nam), the Dutch venture, currently produces 3.3m barrels of oil equivalent per year from these assets.

Labels: Energy, EU, Netherlands

Dutch recall spy from Iran fearing U.S. attack

The Dutch intelligence service stopped an espionage operation in Iran because of an "impending U.S. attack." A top agent was recalled from what was described as a successful operation to infiltrate and sabotage the weapons industry in Iran because it was believed he would be inside one of the targets of the alleged attack, according to an Aug. 29 report in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.The newspaper quoted a source as saying that the agent was recalled "because the U.S. was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft."

Labels: EU, Iran, Netherlands

Olympics - Dutch Cancer Survivor Wins Marathon Swimming Gold

Cancer survivor Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands captured the gold medal in the men's 10km open swimming race on Thursday at the Olympics, finishing a scant 1.5 seconds ahead of Great Britain's David Davies. Thomas Lurz of Germany won the bronze medal and was a full two seconds behind van der Weijden's pace of 1 hour, 51 minutes, 51.6 seconds. The result completed a fairy tale comeback for the 27-year-old van der Weijden, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. That put a hold on his swimming career, but he came back for the 2003 and '04 Open Water World Championships. He now dedicates time to the fight against cancer.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Olympics, swimming

Soccer - Russia score late to hold Dutch to 1-1 draw

Robin van Persie's first-half strike gave the visitors a deserved 1-0 lead with the Dutch eager to avenge their defeat by Guus Hiddink's men in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals two months ago. The Arsenal forward beat Russia keeper Igor Akinfeyev, curling a delicate left-footed shot into the top corner from just outside the area in the 25th minute. The Dutch dominated for much of the lively encounter at Moscow's Lokomotiv stadium on Wednesday, with van Persie being the most active for the visitors until he was substituted by Ibrahim Afellay midway through the second half. But Zyryanov calmly fired from the spot for the equaliser 12 minutes from time after Giovanni van Bronckhorst fouled Dmitry Torbinsky inside the box.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Russia, Soccer

Roman walk from Nijmegen (Netherlands)to Xanten (Germany)

Dutch and German historians have set up a new crossborder country walk between the Dutch city of Nijmegen and the German city of Xanten. Hikers will learn about the region’s historical Roman roots thanks to signposts and informationboards between the two former important Roman army posts. The mayor of Nijmegen will inaugurate the new hiking route in April with various experts. The route passes through the eastern part of the city, where the Romans had built a military camp, a forum and an amphitheatre. The city of Nijmegen plans to set up two additional routes along Roman ruins.

Labels: EU, Germany, Netherlands, Tourism

Dutch attempt to save the windmills - by Sam Daniel

Holland has always been known for its majestic windmills but now most of them have collapsed and the Dutch government is striving hard to restore and preserve the existing heritage structures. Till a century ago over 10,000 windmills had dotted the countryside in Holland. The country is below sea level and it were these machines that had kept the land dry by pumping river water back into the sea. After electric pumps took over, these windmills dwindled to just over a thousand.

Now the government is trying to preserve these as national monuments by extending financial support. Every weekend frank and his family work on their old mills to bring them back to running condition.

Labels: Netherlands, windmills

The Dutch: Pragmatic about sex, drugs AND religion

A Dutch journalism professor from Ede Christian University has come to Vancouver to interview me about how Canadians deal with religion in the public sphere. It brought to mind when I did the opposite: Travelled to the Netherlands to learn about their admirable way of dealing with religion in a secular society.The first and only time I showered naked with a female stranger was in this city of social experiments. It was the early '70s. It was a youth hostel. There was me, another guy and two attractive young women in a large shower room. Nobody flirted. Nobody got excited. But the shower experience set my image of the Netherlands forever: liberal, egalitarian, tolerant, matter-of-fact. Even though fewer Dutch people attend religious institutions than in Canada, the Dutch generally welcome non-coercive public expressions of religion, spirituality and ethical discussion. Many see public religion as a way to integrate people from all walks into one cohesive civil society.

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Tollerance

Tornado causes damage in Netherlands

A tornado raced through the north-east Dutch province of Groningen, Dutch media reported early on Monday. The tornado struck the villages of Lutjegast, Sebaldeburen and Doezum on Sunday night. Cars were lifted in the air and small boats were tossed hundreds of metres across the water. Many farms were severely damaged.The tornado was categorized as an F1, Reinout van den Born, a meteorologist affiliated with the Dutch meteorological institute Meteoconsult told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Monday.The tornado in Groningen had a wind speed of around 100 to 120 kph.

Labels: EU, Global warming, Netherlands, Tornado

Trial of former Suriname dictator suspended; defense questions judge's impartiality

Former Surinamese dictator Desi Bouterse's murder trial was suspended indefinitely on Friday after the defense questioned the impartiality of the leading judge. Bouterse's attorney said he recently learned that the judge's husband has free access to teach martial arts at facilities belonging to President Ronald Venetiaan's ruling National Party. Venetiaan is one of Bouterse's most outspoken opponents. "This, we fear, will damage my client's right to have his case heard by an impartial judge," lawyer Irwin Kanhai said.

Labels: Crime, Desi Bouterse, Netherlands, Suriname

Europeans have cut back on the purchase of flowers by ten percent this year

The Flower and plant industry in the Netherlands has come under serious pressure this year as a result of the world economic slowdown. In particular the export of flowers, which is a major Dutch export product. Some 85 % of the world famous Aalsmeer flower Auction market production is exported internationally. If this trend continues it is expected that flower and plant exporters in the Netherlands will incur losses up to euro 250 million. Industry specialists say that the market will only improve after consumer confidence in the economy returns.

Labels: Economy, EU, Flower Industry, Netherlands

Dutch Firm Said to Manipulate Oil Market - by Diana B. Henriques

Commodity regulators in Washington have accused a Dutch trading company of making roughly $1 million in illegal profits by manipulating the prices of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline over an 11-day period last year.In audiotapes uncovered in their investigation, regulators said one defendant described the scheme as an effort to “bully the market” by making a large number of trades at or near the end of the trading day to move closing prices.

Labels: Manipulation, Netherlands, Oil Prices

New Jersey Lakewood company buys Dutch partner in Almere, Holland

Component Hardware Group, a Lakewood-based company that manufactures plumbing and hardware products, has acquired CHG-Europe in Almere, Netherlands, for an undisclosed amount, company officials said Thursday. The acquisition is expected to give Component Hardware a sales office and distribution center to sell its products throughout Europe. The two companies previously worked together through a joint venture.

Component Hardware is known in the industry for making bacteria-fighting products for commercial buildings and health-care providers.

Labels: Almere, Business, EU, Hardware, Netherlands

VVD questions subsidy for Gülen movement

According to the VVD conservative party in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam municipality has awarded a 23,400-euro subsidy to the Islam and Dialogue Foundation, which is related to the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen. Critics call the Gülen movement sectarian. In a NOVA documentary last Friday, Professor Erik-Jan Zürcher, an expert on Turkish society, said that the Gülen movement very actively encourages its followers to get a diploma and to make a career for themselves. It would also be very apt at adopting the Dutch discourse of dialogue and integration. However, he also said that the organisation turns its members into 'servile followers' who have to accept their leader's message as absolute truth. These are not characteristics that are helpful if one wants to get ahead in a democratic society, he said.

Zürcher further said that the Dutch government "far too easily gives money and facilities to representatives of immigrant groups who know how to push the right buttons".

Labels: EU, Fethullah Gülen, Netherlands

FedEx May Buy Dutch TNT to Add Europe Parcel - by Jeroen Molenaar and Sarah Thompson

FedEx Corp., the second-largest U.S. package-shipping company, is in preliminary talks to take over TNT NV, the Financial Times reported. Buying the Dutch operator would make FedEx the No. 2 express-delivery service in Europe. Rising fuel costs and an economic decline revived merger discussion between FedEx and TNT, the U.K. newspaper said today, without citing anyone. Pieter Schaffels, a spokesman for TNT, and Jess Bunn of FedEx both declined to comment when contacted by telephone and e-mail today. A buyout ``makes sense,'' said Philip Scholte, an analyst at Rabo Securities in Amsterdam. ``You just link the two networks together.''

Labels: EU, Fedex, Netherlands

Netherlands approves Lisbon Treaty

The Dutch Senate approved the Lisbon Treaty on Tuesday, making it the 21st European Union (EU) member state to complete the ratification procedure of the bloc's reform treaty. Dutch senators voted 60 to 15 in favor of the treaty, signed by leaders of the 27 EU nations last December to streamline the expanded union's decision-making process. The lower house of parliament had approved the treaty on June 5.

Labels: Lisbon Treaty, Netherlands

The real Dutch treat is Delft

The Dutch harnessed the sea with their ingenious dikes, and the wind, with their trademark windmills. They also gave us Rembrandt. So, it’s only fitting that their most famous pottery, Delftware, is not only known for its artistry, but also for its technical superiority.

Labels: Delft, EU, Netherlands

Labels: EU, Netherlands, Zimbabwe

Labels: EU, EURO 2008, Netherlands, Soccer

Netherlands, Italy go through from Euro 2008 "group of death"

World champions Italy and the Netherlands won their final matches in group C at the European championship finals on June 17 by the same scoreline, 2:0, to progress to the quarterfinals. The Dutch had secured their spot at the top of the group even before their match with Romania and fielded a team filled with reserves, which nevertheless included players that can single-handedly win a match on their night, such as Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben. For Romania, a win would have guaranteed progressing at the expense of Italy and France, the two teams that played in the last World Cup final. But instead of adopting a more swashbuckling attitude, as they did against Italy, Romania looked for the larger part of the match as a collection of individuals who were playing together for the first time, struggling to string along more than three passes going forward. The Netherlands enjoyed the lion's share of the possession, aided by Romanian players, who appeared unable to stop themselves from giving the ball away. Expertly stretching their opponents' defence on the wings, the Dutch looked more likely to score and in the 36th minute Robben missed the first clear-cut chance, stabbing his shot just inches wide of goal. One of Romania's rare forays saw Razvan Cocis shoot over the crossbar when he was left alone at the edge of the Dutch penalty area just before half-time.

Within ten minutes of the restart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Ajax striker rumoured to be a transfer target for a host of big clubs, who has looked largely ineffective until then, finally scored his first goal of the tournament with an easy-looking tap-in from Ibrahim Afellay's cross.At the other end, the Netherlands continued to patiently test Romania, but their second goal came from a counter-attack in the dying minutes of the half, van Persie beating his market to thump his shot into the near corner.Italy received an unexpected boost eight minutes into the match, when Franck Ribery, France's most dangerous player so far this tournament, was stretchered off with an apparent hamstring injury.Luck was on Italy's side throughout the match, but it remains to be seen whether it will hold against Spain when the two teams play each other in the quarterfinal on June 22. The last time they met, in March, Spain won 1:0.

Labels: EU, EURO 2008, Italy, Netherlands

Hopp Suisse! becomes Hup Holland! for Swiss fans

Switzerland loves Oranjes as from now on it will be supporting the Dutch at Euro 2008. With the Swiss bowing out of the tournament, the country is looking for another team to support - and it looks as though the Dutch have won their hearts. With four official languages - German, French, Italian and Romansh, and around 10 per cent of the population speaking other languages - there would seem to be plenty of scope for partisanship.

Why Holland? "Because I like flowers," she said. "They play good football, and they like to party. They are very nice." Similar views on the Oranje are held by a great deal of her countrymen and women at the Euro 2008 tournament. According to a survey carried out for SonntagsBlick newspaper by Le Matin Dimanche and Il Caffe, around one in four of Swiss fans are now supporting the Netherlands, far more than any other team.

Labels: EU, EURO 2008, Netherlands, Soccer

Soccer - EURO 2008 - Buffon and Sacchi plea to Netherlands to help keep Italy in Euro 2008

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has a message for the Netherlands: the Dutch beat his team and France so easily in the first round that they ought to help out the World Cup champion and runner-up so they can face them again in the semifinals. Italy is worried that the Netherlands will let Romania win in the final round of Group C games at Euro 2008 because the Dutch have already advanced and the result would eliminate both Italy and France — both possible semifinal opponents.

Labels: EURO 2008, Netherlands, Soccer

Netherlands beats France 4-1 to qualify for Euro 2008 quarter-finals

Substitute Arjen Robben set up one goal and scored another Friday to lead the Netherlands to a 4-1 victory over France and a place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. While the Dutch clinched first place in Group C, the result left France needing a win over World Cup champion Italy in its last match to stand a good chance of advancing at the tournament. With a second classic performance in as many games, the Dutch again produced the sparkle any championship craves, compiling a total of seven goals against World Cup finalists Italy and France. The Netherlands beat Italy 3-0 Monday.

Labels: EU, EURO 2008, France, Netherlands, Soccer

Euro 2008 - Soccer: Dutch pull off Euro stunner over Italy

It took the Netherlands eight years, but they finally exacted revenge on Italy. The Dutch rolled to a 3-0 victory Monday over world champion Italy in Berne, Switzerland, in the opening Group C contest for both nations at Euro 2008. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder scored for the Netherlands, who lost the last competitive game between these two nations in the semifinals of Euro 2000.Monday's victory was also the first for the Dutch over the Italians in eight games, dating back to their second-round encounter at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

The Netherlands leads Group C with three points. Romania and France (one point each) are tied for second after battling to a 0-0 tie earlier in the day in Zurich. Winless Italy is in fourth place.

Labels: EU, EURO 2008, Italy, Netherlands, Soccer

The Netherlands - IMF says Dutch economy likely to keep growing faster than EU average

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Dutch economy is expected to weather the turmoil in global financial markets fairly well and will continue growing faster than the European Union average.

'Sizeable fiscal consolidation and stability-oriented macroeconomic policies, complemented by broad-based structural reforms, have underpinned an extended period of strong growth, outperforming the EU average, and have shielded the economy from the recent global financial turmoil,' it said in a report on the Dutch economy.

'Despite an expected deceleration in growth following the U.S. economic slowdown, near-term prospects remain favorable, with real GDP expected to continue expanding above the EU average,' it said.

Labels: EU, EU Economy, IMF, Netherlands

Treaty of Lisbon: No becomes Yes - by John Tyler

Three years ago the people of the Netherlands rejected the European constitution. This week, the Dutch parliament is ratifying the Tr