A Kosovan schoolgirl refused permission to remain in the Netherlands left this morning on a flight to the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. Taïda Pasic, who is 19, said farewell to her high school friends in Winterswijk last week.
She had wanted to remain in the country a few more months so that she could take her high […]

Currently, one of the most discussed topics on the global field of economics and business is the emergence of China into an influential economic superpower.
The China Business Congress, organised by the University of Maastricht together with Financial Study association FOCUS on 10-11 May 2006, will focus on the future impacts of events taking place […]

EU justice and interior ministers on Thursday agreed to nearly double travel fees for non-EU citizens to pay for increased security measures. Critics say the move discriminates against poor people and hurts business.
Meeting in Luxembourg, ministers approved a plan to raise fees from 35 euros ($43) to 60 euros for transit and stays of up […]

Maybe it’s because Austrians just topped a global ranking of people most satisfied with their sex lives. Maybe it’s just because it’s spring. Whatever the inspiration, Austria in its role as current president of the European Union unveiled a campaign this week called “Temptress Europe” designed to reawaken Europeans to the continent’s “sensuous” side.
The […]

On Monday 15 May, Hogeschool Zuyd will be celebrating its fifth anniversary.
The theme we have chosen for this occasion is “Higher Education in Europe”. There will be no classes that day; instead, each of the three branches of Hogeschool Zuyd will be offering an interesting programme of events.
The morning session includes a symposium […]

The number of reported cases of legal euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide in the Netherlands increased in 2005 for the third year in a row, a Dutch agency said Thursday.
The figures released by the Regional Oversight Boards for Euthanasia showed doctors reported 1,933 cases in 2005, up from 1,886 in 2004 and 1,815 in 2003. Studies […]

Translation and interpretation costs in the EU have shot up following the bloc’s enlargement to take on ten new member states in 2004.
The European Commission on Thursday (27 April) announced that the expenses for the translation service after enlargement rose by €259 million per year, from €541 million a year.
Meanwhile translation by all the […]

The plan to establish a separate European Institute of Technology (EIT) has received insufficient support from EU member states.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was hoping that definite decisions could be taken on the EIT at the European summit at the end of March, but the European Council has not approved the plan.
The […]

Just over 1 million people, living legally in Belgium, are foreign nationals. Figures compiled by the Immigration Office, which were published in Thursday’s edition of the daily ‘De Standaard’, reveal that some 1,004,071 people resident in Belgium have a foreign passport.
However, this doesn’t paint the full picture as regards the number of people with […]

Most countries with royalty celebrate their monarch’s birthday with pomp and ceremony. The Dutch, in contrast, hold a giant open-air market.
International visitors arriving in the Netherlands on Koninginnedag often feel as if they have taken a wrong turn and ended up at a riotous Middle Eastern souk or bazaar.
Every inch of the pavement in […]

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) succeeded last year in clearing a large part of its backlog of unprocessed residence applications, the National Ombudsman said in his 2005 report on Thursday.
The IND saw a decline in the number of complaints about its services to 13,200 last year, almost 2,000 fewer than the year before. Most […]

The authorities at the International Secondary School in Eindhoven (ISSE) have vowed a renewed focus on security after some pupils were assaulted by local teenagers. “It is particularly a matter for concern that local children entered the school grounds during this very unfortunate incident,” headmaster David Garner said.
He stressed that a a CCTV camera […]

Amsterdam-based expats have launched a new website to showcase the cultural offers of both the Dutch and US capitals.
“Washingtonamsterdam.com brings together two of the most influential art centres of the world, Washington and Amsterdam,” US expat Sean Valerio said on Thursday. The site is in both English and Dutch to cater for a wide variety […]

De Telegraaf - which is always big on ’small’ news - has a story about a competition to find the laziest student in Holland. The winner will be the student who manages to stay the longest in a hammock which will be put up in a soccer stadium.
But it’s not as easy as it […]

Young Muslims consider freedom of religion much more important than freedom of speech. The opposite is true of ‘native’ Dutch youngsters, according to a poll held by current affairs TV programme TweeVandaag.
Top-X, the programme’s youth website, questioned 4250 secondary schoolchildren. This showed that 89 percent of the Muslim pupils considered freedom of religion more important […]

Education State Secretary Mark Rutte launched a protocol yesterday providing foreign students with guarantees that the courses will meet their expectations. They will also be admitted to the Netherlands more quickly.
All the umbrella organisations for higher education (FION, HBO Raad, Paepon and VSNU) are involved in the code of conduct. Only establishments that sign the […]

The business climate in the Netherlands achieves an average to good score compared with that of 19 other countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). But the Netherlands lags behind in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship, says a report published yesterday by the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS).
In the research commissioned […]

Usually it takes more than just a common language to bring expats together on foreign soil. If you happen to be a cricket lover in German or Belgian Euregio, or living nearby in the Dutch province of Zuid Limburg, and you’re missing the company of other native speakers, you’re in luck.
Since 2003 the Heerlen […]

State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment Henk van Hoof is going to carefully monitor whether the Dutch labour market is seriously disrupted by the free movement of workers from Poland and seven other new EU member-states. If it turns out that many Dutch workers are ‘squeezed out’ of certain sectors, the state secretary will […]

A single regulation will be introduced to govern the admission and residence rights of foreign nationals wishing to come to the Netherlands to promulgate their religion.
It will apply to pastors, members of religious orders and evangelists.
That is what Minister for Immigration and Integration Rita Verdonk has proposed in response to a report by the […]

Dutch people generally know more about World War II than is often thought, according to a report published ahead of the Remembrance and Liberation Days next week.
The Nationaal Vrijheidsonderzoek (National Freedom Study) conducted by the 4 and 5 May national committee found most people have a clear understanding of Nazi ideas, the causes of the […]

Radio Netherlands is broadcasting its radio drama “The Edges of the Night Watch” around the globe in Dutch, English, Spanish and Indonesian from 19 May. The three-part play will be heard around the world directly and through Radio Netherlands’ partner stations. It is also being broadcast by RAI Tre and Radio Suisse Romande in Italian […]

Bankrupt, estranged from friends and patrons, and buried in an unmarked grave, Rembrandt is often portrayed as a tragically misunderstood genius, the heroic victim of jeering philistines. That image returns time and again in popular novels and films, but art historians will point out that this is pure myth.
In actual fact, Rembrandt’s success as an […]

What’s the correct way… in the Netherlands? That’s the title of a new book, the first copy of which has just been presented to Dutch Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk.
The authors describe it as a guide for anyone coming to live in the Netherlands for a while or permanently. The new book for […]

One-quarter of pupils in VMBO are unable to read a book for their age-group, the Education Inspectorate said yesterday in its annual report. VMBO is the lowest form of secondary education, frequented by two-thirds of all secondary schoolchildren.
The reading deficiency arises because pupils often do not receive good lessons. “This has practically nothing to do […]

Many Dutch people come across as rude and thoughtless when communicating with foreigners. Miranda Bensing of Amsterdam language institute Feedback Talen believes she has come up with a solution.
Dutch people are frequently rude but this is especially down to ignorance of another culture rather than being intentional.
According to Bensing, “this causes many problems, particularly […]

Utrecht is the most expensive city of the Netherlands where the cost of student accommodation is concerned. A room of 20 square metres costs an average of 380 euros a month.
According to a report by Kamerhuren.net, Utrecht is the costliest city at 19 euros per square metre, followed by Amsterdam (15). Maastricht is the cheapest […]

In 2004, 1200 civil servants in the public and semi-public sector earned as much or more than a minister. This is more or less the same as a year earlier, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) reported yesterday.
According to the CBS definition, a minister earns a wage of 158,000 euros a year. In 2004, over […]

State Secretary for Education Mark Rutte is to launch a code of conduct on Wednesday to guarantee the rights of international students in higher education in the Netherlands.
The code is intended to make life easier for students attending institutes providing post-graduate training and education in the English language. Research by student groups indicated a few […]

The European Commission is mediocre in terms of administrative efficiency, the EU Ombudsman said on Monday (24 April), with some Belgian politicians keen to introduce a “Kafka index” for Brussels.
“The commission is more or less half way along the line,” Nikiforos Diamandouros said while presenting his 2005 annual report on EU red tape, explaining […]