It’s that time of year again, when the leaves on the trees have fallen and the time of good will is finally upon us. Just time for one more flutter of humanoid tempers that will eventually dissipate in the never-ending blanket of early morning fog. Off the shores of the Low-Countries, lies a steamboat in […]
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Is EU Citizenship Meaningless? – The Dutch Seem To Think So
Last January, a short adaptation of one of my blog posts concerning citizens’ rights after Brexit, was published in the Dutch national newspaper, “Trouw.” I pointed out the problems facing British citizens who will still be living and working in the EU-27 after Brexit. In particular, I stressed the dangers of the upcoming bureaucracy, and the […]
Going Dutch – Citizenship And Freedom Of Movement
Freedom has a price. Most people aren’t willing to pay it. – Jack Kevorkian (American activist) The government’s recent decision to sharply increase the cost of giving up British citizenship represents a new low point in the Brexit saga. Just as you thought that the UK government couldn’t get any more cynical in its treatment […]
Brexit Musings (19) – The Federal Train From Lisbon
The EU is a community of values and a partnership of 27 sovereign member states, that make each other stronger, when a joint approach is needed…The EU is not an unstoppable train speeding towards federalism. – Mark Rutte Just as Theresa May was thanking the heavens for Brexit, in Mansion House, a little known […]
Houellebecq’s “Submission” – A Caliphate Fantasia In Rotterdam
Michel Houellebecq’s controversial novel, “Submission”, published in 2015, received a mixed reception from both the press and politicians. Not surprisingly, Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-winged “Front National”, described the work as, “fiction that one day could become reality.” Michel Houellebecq’s political fiction is in nothing a visionary work, it’s just a succession of false provocations. […]
Dikes, Bikes, And Perks – Holland’s Underwater Haven
photograph © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]So happy under water[/perfectpullquote] The latest OECD report, focussing on the work-leisure balance – so important in stopping each one of us from giving up on life – puts the Dutch at the top of the class. This does […]
British In Europe: Double-Dutch In Amsterdam’s District Court
Earlier this month, a group of British expats living in the Netherlands, succeeded in their attempt to refer the question of their EU citizens’ rights, to the European Court Of Justice (ECJ). In what appears to be a surprising and disappointing development, the Dutch state has succeeded in launching an appeal against the ruling. The […]
De Brexit Overeenkomst Negeert de Burgerrechten van Britse Burgers in de EU
Terwijl 23 juni 2016 de boeken in zal gaan als een van de zwartste dagen in onze levens, als EU-burgers in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en als Britse staatsburgers in de EU, zal ook de aankondiging van een last-minute overeenkomst over het “verzekeren” van burgerrechten, opgenomen worden in dit lijstje als “heel donkergrijs”. Twee zaken komen […]
Gevangen Tussen de Lijnen: Het Lot van Britse Burgers in de EU en EU Burgers in het VK
What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes. – Cicero Deze week heeft het Britse parlement de eerste stap genomen om het Artikel 50 van het Verdrag van Lissabon te kunnen activeren. Het is nu bijna acht maanden geleden dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk de beslissing heeft genomen de Europese Unie te verlaten. […]
Lost in Translation: Allochtonen Moeten Allochtoon Blijven
Op 23 januari l.l. heeft Premier Mark Rutte een open brief aan alle Nederlanders geschreven. Ik wil graag, als allochtoon, mijn reactie daarover delen. Voordat ik in het Engels schrijf, heb ik deze Nederlandse versie opgestelt, desondanks de taalfouten die kunnen (en zullen) verschijnen. Mijn taalfouten kunnen bewijzen hoe moeilijk 100% geïntegreerd te worden is. […]