US to open info centre at cemetery
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) wants to open an information centre at the American cemetery in Margraten. The centre should resemble the one in Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy. The Americans are reportedly willing to invest USD 25 million in the centre.
Source: Limburgs Dagblad via Expatica Netherlands, 13 June 2007
Dutch infrastructure report opposed to more roads
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
A report prepared by business consultancy Capgemini and opinion pollsters TNS Nipo concludes that extra roads and expansion of the rail network are not the most logical solutions for the problems of the morning and evening rush hours.
The researchers say the best ways to reduce long tailbacks and crowded trains are to stimulate working [...]
Vermeer centre opens in Delft
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
Finally, more then 300 years after his death in 1675, the Vermeer Centre has been opened in the Dutch city of Delft where Vermeer was born and where he lived and worked. The museum is housed in the former St Lucas Guild where Vermeer was Dean of the painters for many years.
Read full story: Radio [...]
EU countries agree to share DNA, fingerprint data
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
European Union countries agreed Tuesday to allow police to share DNA, fingerprint data and license plate information to better combat terrorism and cross-border crime.
The aim of the agreement, sealed by EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg, is “to introduce procedures for promoting fast, efficient and inexpensive means of data exchange.”
Police from the 27 EU [...]
Dutch score low in organic farming
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands is trailing the European average in terms of organic farming, according to figures from EU statistics office Eurostat. Some 3.9% of EU farmland is devoted to organic farming but in the Netherlands it is just 2.5%. Top organic farming nation is Austria, with 11%.
Source: DutchNews, 12 June 2007
Camping in the Netherlands more expensive
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
Camping in the Netherlands has become significantly more expensive over the past years. A week at a small campground for a family of four, with car and caravan, was about EUR 115 five years ago. Last year the costs increased to EUR 143. That is almost 25 percent more.
Source: AD via Expatica Netherlands, 12 June [...]
Tuition too high for non-EU students
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
The increased tuition fees make it practically impossible for many students from outside the EU to study in the Netherlands, according to the Young Socialists (JS), the youth movement of the Labour PvdA.
They are urging that students from countries that receive development aid be allowed to pay the same tuition as European students. Currently a [...]
Netherlands in the lead internationally with teleworking
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands is in the lead internationally with working at home via computer. Around 20 percent of the labour force regularly works in this way, according to a large study of Internet usage presented yesterday.
On average in the EU, 7 percent of the labour force regularly works at home via computer. Other countries with high [...]
Dutch children hospitalised with alcohol poisoning
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
Figures released by the Reinier de Graaf hospital in Delft show that, since the beginning of this year, more than 80 children have been admitted with alcohol poisoning. Most of the children were around 13 years old and many had been drinking spirits and litres of beer. The hospital has only collated figures on young [...]
Dutch charities accused of controversial investments
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
A current affairs programme has revealed that many Dutch charities have money invested in companies of which the products are at odds with the charities stated objectives. Part of the money of the Dutch Cancer Society is invested in tobacco companies. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has money invested in companies [...]
Business as usual at Ford Genk
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
Production at the Ford plant in the Limburg city of Genk is unlikely to suffer as a result the damage the factory’s roof sustained during last Friday’s storm.
Production has resumed at the plant’s press and Ford plants at Saarlouis and Cologne in Germany are taking on some of Ford Genk’s work, while repairs are [...]
Women in Netherlands have first child at age 29
June 11, 2007 Leave a Comment
The average age of women who give birth in the Netherlands is 31.1 years. For the first child, this is 29.4 years.
The average age when women in the Netherlands become mothers is very high in an international context, but is no longer rising. The figures for 2006 published by the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) [...]
Flanders is popular with Dutch students
June 11, 2007 Leave a Comment
Studies at Belgian universities are popular with students from the Netherlands.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, there were 2,652 Dutch students enrolled at higher education institutions in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking area of Belgium. In the current academic year, that number has risen to 3,346 (1,483 of those enrolled on professional programmes, while 1,863 enrolled on [...]
Lions Club Maastricht Mondial, May Fair 2007: a photo-reportage
June 11, 2007 3 Comments
photo: Stuart Woodburn 
The Lions Club Maastricht Mondial this year held its annual May Fair for expatriates and their families at Kasteel Limbricht on Sunday 3 June. [See photo-reportage by Stuart Woodburn and Herman Pijpers...]
13-17 June: European Congress Junior Chamber International
June 8, 2007 Leave a Comment
More than 2000 entrepreneurs and managers from all over Europe will visit Maastricht in 2007. They will be doing this within the framework of the European Congress of the Junior Chamber International (JCI). During this congress the members of the JCI will have the opportunity to participate in meetings, trainings and workshops. They will also [...]
A Tale of Two Cities: the twinning between Maastricht and El Rama, Nicaragua
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”*… in short, it was the 1980s. A group of Maastrichters was touring Central America, enjoying the lush beauty of the continent. When they arrived in Nicaragua, the land of lakes and volcanoes, little did they suspect that their trip had reached a turning point. [continued...]
EU attacked for lack of solidarity on illegal immigrants
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini launched a scathing attack Wednesday on European Union countries for failing to show solidarity as their partners struggle to deal with illegal immigrants.
He complained that smaller nations had to deal with large numbers of refugees trying to enter Europe, and that bigger member countries had not lived up to pledges [...]
Fewer youngsters without a basic qualification employed
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
One quarter of youngsters who had left school without a basic qualification were not active on the labour market in 2006: they did not have and were not looking for a job. This is twice as many as those who did have a basic qualification.
No qualification: one in four not employed
Of all the 15-24 [...]
Dutch smoking ban scheduled for July 2008
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
A Dutch television station has reported that Public Health Minister Ab Klink has written to the lower house of parliament saying that he plans to ban smoking in bars, restaurants, cafes, discos and nightclubs in the Netherlands in July 2008. An aide to the minister says the plan will be discussed again in a ministerial [...]
Dutch government to set up juvenile centres
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands is to set up a nationwide network of Centres for Young People and Families for early intervention into problems in families. Minister for Families André Rouvoet announced the details of his plan at a children’s summit in the town of Hilversum on Wednesday. The Dutch government has earmarked 440 million euros for the [...]
Netherlands is World’s Biggest Contributor to Development
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
With an overall score of 6.6, the Netherlands ranks 1st in the Commitment to Development Index 2006 published yesterday by the Center for Global Development. The index shows how 21 rich countries perform on seven indicators.
On Aid, the Netherlands ranks 4 with a score of 8.5. Its strengths are that the Netherlands gives a very [...]
Dutch students develop powdered alcohol
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros.
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-coloured and -flavoured drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.
[...] “Because the alcohol is not in [...]
Netherlands ditches quick divorce procedure
June 7, 2007 Leave a Comment
Dutch couples wishing to divorce must arrange their separation through the courts in the future, according to new legislation approved by the Dutch parliament Tuesday.
Dutch lawmakers scrapped the country’s quick divorce procedure, under which a marriage is converted into a registered partnership, which can then be dissolved by a government official, Dutch paper De [...]
New potential donors thanks to hoax
June 5, 2007 Leave a Comment
The hoax Dutch TV show on organ donations seems to be achieving its aim. Since the broadcast of the final Big Donor Show in which it was revealed that the programme was a stunt, 50,000 people in the Netherlands have requested a form to become an organ donor.
Read the article: Radio Netherlands, 4 June [...]
9 June: Public Festivity to Celebrate 40 Years of NATO Continuity in Brunssum
June 4, 2007 Leave a Comment
A large public festivity will take place in the Vijverpark, Brunssum 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. June 9, 2007 to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of the NATO headquarters in Brunssum.
Gen. Egon Ramms, JFC HQ Brunssum Commander, and by Drs. Clemens Brocken, Mayor of Brunssum, will officially open the festivities by planting an oak tree [...]
6 July: Euregional Forum Eupen: Mapping the Euregio Meuse-Rhine
June 4, 2007 Leave a Comment
Date:Friday 6 July
Time: 13:30 – 18:00
Location: Headquarters of the Euregional Meuse-Rhine Foundation, Eupen, BE
The sixth Euregional Forum is taking place in Eupen on Friday 6 July and addresses the matter of mapping the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Special guests are Marina Gzinic,
FO/GO Lab, Cornelia Offergeld, Wim Cuyvers, Maartje Dros and Jozua Zaagman. Experts and non-experts, institutions and [...]
14 June: Euregional Forum Heerlen: A flag for the Euregio Meuse-Rhine
June 4, 2007 Leave a Comment
Date: Thursday 14 June
Time: 13:30 – 18:00
Location: Glaspaleis Heerlen, NL
The fifth Euregional Forum is taking place in Heerlen on Thursday 14 June,
addressing the matter of designing a flag for the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Special guests are Wim van den Bergh (architect), Guus Beumer (NAi Maastricht), Vinca Kruk (Meta Haven), Miran Mohar (New Collectivism), Gon Zifroni (Jan [...]
Ministers in Rome for new Dutch saint
June 4, 2007 Leave a Comment
Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin and junior foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans [were] in Rome on Sunday for the canonisation of Karel Houben. Houben (1821-1893) was born in the Limburg village of Munstergeleen but spent much of his life in Ireland where he is credited with several miracles.
Source: DutchNews, 29 May 2007
See photographs of the [...]
Kunsttour 2007: New Media and Artistic Innovation in Maastricht
June 2, 2007 Leave a Comment
Bright pink brochures in hand, thousands of people roamed the streets of Maastricht on May 26th, 27th, and 28th, with only one thing on their minds: modern art! It was the weekend of the 8th annual Kunsttour (ArtTour), and Maastrichters young and old alike enjoyed the displays of cutting-edge art exhibited all around our city. The types of art were diverse, including contemporary art, design, and new media art, but those attending the ArtTour had at least one thing in common: a genuine appreciation for artistic innovation.
Praise, criticism after Dutch kidney donation contest revealed as a hoax
June 2, 2007 Leave a Comment
Patients, politicians and the press reacted with shock, praise and considerable criticism after a Dutch television program in which three patients competed to win the kidney of a terminally ill woman turned out to be a hoax.
Before the program, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende appeared on national television to say the “Big Donor Show,” which [...]
