The New Year was welcomed in traditional Dutch fashion; that is, with a bang, as Dutch burghers spent an estimated 53 million euros on fireworks for their New Year’s Eve festivities.
This despite a year-long torrent of bad economic news and dire predictions of a stagnant Dutch economy in 2004. As the government called for more ‘belt-tightening’ measures in the coming year, the Volkskrant reminded readers that the Netherlands remains one of the five richest countries in the European Union. Recession for the average Dutchman, the newspaper said, ,,means a moderate second vacation and going out to eat less.” Meanwhile, the largest Dutch trade union said the relationship between the government and unions has deteriorated over government cuts in unemployment and sickness benefit. A union spokesman accused the government of wanting to return to ,,a 19th century punishment-orientated society”. The Amsterdam stock exchange (AEX) ended 2003 in profit, however, its first profitable year since 1999.
The province of South Holland began a trial with free public transport to and from Den Haag, Oestgeest and Noordwijk. The year-long experiment to reduce car traffic will cost the province one million euros. If 5% of drivers give up their cars for the bus, the trial will be considered a success. In 2003, Dutch motorists spent more time stuck in traffic jams than ever before. The number of traffic jams on Dutch roads rose by around a thousand compared to 2002. In total, there were 33,977 traffic jams in 2003. The day with the most simultaneous traffic jams was November 24th at 8:45 a.m., when there were 72 traffic jams with a total length of 455 km, which included the longest traffic jam of the year, a 39 km-long jam on the A12.
In Iraq, a sergeant major with the Dutch marines was remanded in custody after fatally shooting an Iraqi civilian who was looting a convoy of relief goods. Meanwhile, the lower house of the Dutch parliament approved a cabinet decision to extend the deployment of military personnel in Iraq for six months. The Socialist and Green Left parties refused to endorse the motion. Labour (PvdA), the main opposition party, backed the plan. The Netherlands currently has 1,100 troops stationed in Iraq. The Telegraaf newspaper reported that the Netherlands is now a prime candidate for lucrative U.S administered contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. The U.S. announced that countries that refused to support the Iraq invasion, such as France and Germany, are excluded from bidding for these contracts. The Telegraaf quoted one VVD parliamentarian who said France and Germany are getting their just deserts for opposing the war. ,,Boontje komt om zijn loontje”, the VVDer said, which translates loosely as, ‘Payback is a bitch’.
Dutch smokers began the New Year facing a tough new anti-smoking law. Smoking’s now banned in nearly all public places, including the workplace and on public transportation. Only cafés and restaurants are exempt until 2005. Around one third of the Dutch population of 16 million currently smokes, which is a higher percentage than all other EU countries except Spain, Greece and Germany. Once again, the Dutch watched more television in 2003 than any year previous. In 2003, the average Netherlander watched 3 hours and 7 minutes of TV per day, a 9% increase on 2002. The year’s most-watched program was the Netherlands-Scotland football match, with 5.5 million viewers. The first ‘plaster-cast flights’ will start this year. The flights will bring Dutch skiers with broken limbs back to the Netherlands from Alpine ski resorts. Medical teams expect to treat up to 1,800 Dutch ski/snowboard victims this year. Dutch Crown Prince William-Alexander wants the Netherlands to host the Winter Olympics. Holland is flat and snow unusual here but the Prince says the ski events could be held in southern Germany. And finally, Internet users who entered the words ‘raar kapsel‘ (weird hair-style) in the Google search engine got a web-link to the curriculum vitae of Dutch Premier Jan Pieter Balkenende at regering.nl.
The New Year was welcomed in traditional Dutch fashion; that is, with a bang, as Dutch burghers spent an estimated 53 million euros on fireworks for their New Year’s Eve festivities. This despite a year-long torrent of bad economic news and dire predictions of a stagnant Dutch economy in 2004. As the government called for more ‘belt-tightening’ measures in the coming year, the Volkskrant reminded readers that the Netherlands remains one of the five richest countries in the European Union. Recession for the average Dutchman, the newspaper said, ,,means a moderate second vacation and going out to eat less.” Meanwhile, the largest Dutch trade union said the relationship between the government and unions has deteriorated over government cuts in unemployment and sickness benefit. A union spokesman accused the government of wanting to return to ,,a 19th century punishment-orientated society”. The Amsterdam stock exchange (AEX) ended 2003 in profit, however, its first profitable year since 1999.
The province of South Holland began a trial with free public transport to and from Den Haag, Oestgeest and Noordwijk. The year-long experiment to reduce car traffic will cost the province one million euros. If 5% of drivers give up their cars for the bus, the trial will be considered a success. In 2003, Dutch motorists spent more time stuck in traffic jams than ever before. The number of traffic jams on Dutch roads rose by around a thousand compared to 2002. In total, there were 33,977 traffic jams in 2003. The day with the most simultaneous traffic jams was November 24th at 8:45 a.m., when there were 72 traffic jams with a total length of 455 km, which included the longest traffic jam of the year, a 39 km-long jam on the A12.
In Iraq, a sergeant major with the Dutch marines was remanded in custody after fatally shooting an Iraqi civilian who was looting a convoy of relief goods. Meanwhile, the lower house of the Dutch parliament approved a cabinet decision to extend the deployment of military personnel in Iraq for six months. The Socialist and Green Left parties refused to endorse the motion. Labour (PvdA), the main opposition party, backed the plan. The Netherlands currently has 1,100 troops stationed in Iraq. The Telegraaf newspaper reported that the Netherlands is now a prime candidate for lucrative U.S administered contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. The U.S. announced that countries that refused to support the Iraq invasion, such as France and Germany, are excluded from bidding for these contracts. The Telegraaf quoted one VVD parliamentarian who said France and Germany are getting their just deserts for opposing the war. ,,Boontje komt om zijn loontje”, the VVDer said, which translates loosely as, ‘Payback is a bitch’.
Dutch smokers began the New Year facing a tough new anti-smoking law. Smoking’s now banned in nearly all public places, including the workplace and on public transportation. Only cafés and restaurants are exempt until 2005. Around one third of the Dutch population of 16 million currently smokes, which is a higher percentage than all other EU countries except Spain, Greece and Germany. Once again, the Dutch watched more television in 2003 than any year previous. In 2003, the average Netherlander watched 3 hours and 7 minutes of TV per day, a 9% increase on 2002. The year’s most-watched program was the Netherlands-Scotland football match, with 5.5 million viewers. The first ‘plaster-cast flights’ will start this year. The flights will bring Dutch skiers with broken limbs back to the Netherlands from Alpine ski resorts. Medical teams expect to treat up to 1,800 Dutch ski/snowboard victims this year. Dutch Crown Prince William-Alexander wants the Netherlands to host the Winter Olympics. Holland is flat and snow unusual here but the Prince says the ski events could be held in southern Germany. And finally, Internet users who entered the words ‘raar kapsel‘ (weird hair-style) in the Google search engine got a web-link to the curriculum vitae of Dutch Premier Jan Pieter Balkenende at regering.nl.
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