Germany Backs Down on Tax Demand for Compensation Payments

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany has backed down on a controversial demand that former slave labourers for the Nazis should pay tax on pensions paid to them as compensation after protests from Belgium and Holland.

Belgium first contacted Germany a month ago to express its fury after "morally indefensible" tax bills were sent to victims of the Nazi forced labour programme during the Second World War.

After initially failing to respond, Berlin was forced to abandon the policy after Belgium threatened to raise the issue during emergency eurozone talks on Nov 30.

A spokesman from Germany's finance ministry on Monday announced that emergency legislation would be passed on Friday to make sure that the pensions would remain tax-free.

"This problem no longer exists, or at least will no longer exist very soon," he said. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday, November 21, 2011

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Heineken Is Not Amused by Swiss Keineken Campaign
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Heineken has gone to court to stop a local Swiss group from distributing a spoof brand called Keineken (No Heineken) in protest of the Dutch brewer's dominance of the Swiss beer market.

The judge in Obwalden canton ordered a supply of 1,200 Keineken bottles and matching glasses confiscated after Heineken filed a complaint for trademark infringement.

The Keineken ('Kein Heineken' or No Heineken) campaign is in response to recent acquisitions by the Dutch beer giant on the Swiss beer market. A year ago Heineken acquired the Swiss brewer Eichhof from Luzern. According to Conrad Engler of the Keineken campaign this meant that "the last big independent Swiss brewer ended up in foreign hands".

Eight years ago, when Carlsberg took over the Feldschlösschen brewery in Basel, local beer aficionados founded the Unser Bier (Our beer) brewery in the same city. The Keineken campaign in Luzern was inspired by the Basel action. >>> NRC’s News Staff | Thursday, September 03, 2009

Keineken website >>>

Dutch Princess Máxima Holds Banks Responsible
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, a former banker, says that banks are responsible for the financial crisis. Photo courtesy of Google Images
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Banks have to go back to the basics of their business of saving and lending, says Dutch princess Máxima. The former banker spoke at a symposium on social banking on Tuesday.

Princess Máxima had nothing good to say about her former colleagues, bankers who have plunged the world into a deep financial crisis. At a meeting organised by Triodos Bank in the Dutch town of Zeist, Máxima said on Tuesday that bankers had lost sight of the core values of their profession. With "overzealous marketing" practices they sold inappropriate loans to vulnerable consumers who did not know what they were getting into. The financial crisis was due in part to these kinds of practices. "Only now we are starting to have some insight in the real extent of the consequences of the last months," the princess said.

Before Máxima met crown prince Willem Alexander ten years ago, she worked as a commercial banker in New York for banks such as Deutsche Bank and HSBC. Máxima gave her talk on Tuesday to mark the founding of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, an alliance of twelve financial institutions focused on social banking and microfinance, including Triodos Bank.

Microfinance

Over the past three years Máxima has served on a UN advisory group for microfinance: the issuing of loans to poor people or starting entrepreneurs in developing countries. The essence of banking, says Máxima, consists of trust, building long-term relationships and offering financial products that have added value. "Neglecting these values seems to be at the heart of the causes of the crisis."

She appealed to governments to set up a "'light touch' but adequate system of market regulation" and to offer consumers financial education, so that they can better understand the financial products they are offered. "It is the role of banks and microfinance institutions to have consumer protection and transparency written into the DNA of their organisation," Máxima said. >>> By Roel Janssen | Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback – The Netherlands) >>>

Dutch Unemployed Told to Find a Job - Any Job
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Dutch people who have been on unemployment benefits for more than a year will have to accept any job they are offered, according to new rules supported by a majority in parliament.

Under the new rules, anyone who has been on unemployment benefits for more than a year will have to take any job he or she is offered, even if they are overqualified for the job or if the job pays less than the unemployment benefits.

Dutch unemployment benefits entitle people to 70 percent of their last salary. Provided they have worked for at least four out of the past five years, job seekers are entitled to one month of benefits for every year they have worked, up to a maximum of 38 months.

But the system has come under increasing pressure because of budget concerns. Next year, the Dutch government is expected to spend an additional three billion euros on unemployment benefits. >>> News Staff | Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback – The Netherlands) >>>

Zwanenberg Plumps for Eternal Dhimmitude
Poster of Dutch-Danish products boycott
“Zwanenberg announces its solidarity with the ‘Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign’ in its endeavours to pass an international legislation to stop any insult of any religion including Islam and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” – Zwanenberg announcement

THE JORDAN TIMES: AMMAN - The multilateral Danish-Dutch boycott campaign is moving ahead with the addition of a major brand, the removal of others and an ongoing lawsuit, while Jordanian importers still suffer losses.

Launched in late February to protest against the republication of disturbing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us” campaign was relaunched in mid-June to add products from the Netherlands after Dutch MP Geert Wilders posted an anti-Islam film on the Internet.

The ultimate goal, according to campaign spokesperson Zakaria Sheikh, is to enact a universal law that prohibits the defamation of any prophet or religion, similar to the international legislation banning anti-Semitism.

Sheikh told The Jordan Times that the boycott will assist them in providing proof of the harm of “hateful messages” when advocating for the law. Boycott Campaign Moves Ahead >>> By Linda Hindi | June 25, 2008

Diana West: "The Islamic strategy to compel the suicidal West to destroy its own identifying liberties by exploiting capitalism's essential weakness – blithering fear of shrinking markets – continues apace with renewed calls for an Islamic boycott of Dutch and Danish goods." >>>

Zwanenberg Food Group >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers

Dutch Companies Fear Jordanian Boycott
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Fearful of a Jordanian boycott of their products, two Dutch companies have distanced themselves from the film Fitna, produced and released earlier this year by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. On Sunday, Friesland Foods and the Zwanenberg Food Group placed adverts in Jordanian newspapers to announce that they have nothing to do with the film. They're hoping to prevent their products ending up on a Middle East blacklist.



They took this step after 'The Messenger of Allah Unites Us', a broad coalition of Jordanian political parties, professional organisations and media, printed one million posters showing Dutch and Danish products that - they argue - consumers in Jordan and other Middle East countries ought to boycott. In addition to a number of Danish brand names, the list includes such Dutch companies as KLM, Philips and baby food manufacturer Friso.



There's considerable anger in Jordan regarding Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The chairman of the coalition, Zakaria Sheik, says that both men have offended Muslims throughout the world and shouldn't escape their punishment. Dutch Companies Fear Jordanian Boycott >>> By Sebastiaan Gottlieb | June 23, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers