Worldlog Week 21 - 2012 - Hoofdinhoud

I'm back in the Lower House and it's really great to be back in The Hague. I'm ready to go for it at full speed! The proposed cut-backs from the parties that used to form the Kunduz Coalition are completely unacceptable as far as we're concerned. This arrangement does not in any way promote society striving for compassion and sustainability. We are therefore going to do everything in our power to show the Netherlands that we can and must do better!

The ESM Treaty for example needs a total re-think. We at any rate want for the decision-making process around the European Stability Mechanism to be postponed till after the elections. The European Union is using the ESM as a buffer for support for the Euro, but the form in which the ESM is currently being proposed is catching criticism from various European member state Courts of Auditors. This is due to the fact they are talking of giving a blank cheque to a body that is democratically accountable to no one and enjoys legal immunity.

We therefore view the rushed ESM introduction as a highly undesirable form of sovereignty transfer, performed without any kind of democratic process. That is why we are arguing for a referendum on the ESM Treaty. However, this is not an argument that the majority of the Lower House supports. We don't think that an outgoing cabinet should debate this topic. That is why we will resist the plan to deal with the ESM as it now stands for 23 May.

We cannot believe that our outgoing Prime Minister, Mr Rutte will not attending the climate conference in Rio de Janeiro, but is instead sending two state secretaries in his place. 130 countries are sending their Prime Ministers to the UN Rio+20 conference at the end of June, but the Netherlands has decided to cry off without good reason. It is of the utmost importance for government leaders to talk to each other about the earth's future. We need sustainable development like never before: this week saw the release of a new Living Planet in which they show how the health of the planet is fading, and fast.

If everyone on earth were to consume as much as the average Dutch citizen in 2008, we would need 3.5 earths. Because we only have one planet at our disposal, we need to turn the tide now. If we're going to put a stop to the earth's depletion, we need to reach a truly ambitious global accord. That is why government leaders and especially the leaders of those countries that are responsible for the earth’s pollution and depletion, must come together to discuss solutions.

A wonderful statement from Paul McCartney: The life of a fish is as important to him as mine is to me. Read more about his choice to become vegetarian and about other international celebrities' animal-friendly choices at http://veggietestimonial.peta.org/.

My colleague and Member of Parliament Esther Ouwehand asked Parliamentary Questions about the possible extradition of whale activist Paul Watson to Costa Rica. Watson, the director of Sea Shepherd, was detained in Germany and will possibly be extradited for a confrontation with an illegal fishing vessel on the coast of Guatemala - an incident that took place 10 years ago. During this incident there was no physical injury nor material damage, there was only the fact there was a confrontation with a vessel that was illegally taking living sharks from the ocean and mutilating them for their fins… Moreover, Costa Rica is a country that can insufficiently guarantee human rights observation and the request for extraditions appears to be chiefly political in nature. We have asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask his German counterpart to disallow Paul Watson's extradition. Follow all the news about this case on the Sea Shepherd website.

See you next week!