News

Mandatory civic integration in Brussels further postponed

17 February 2016

"Despite the current asylum crisis, there is still no sign in Brussels of mandatory civic integration," Brussels Parliament Member Liesbet Dhaene confirms. What's worse is that civic integration will only become mandatory on 17 January 2017 at the earliest. "And this despite the Brussels …

Trade with the Middle East: don't just focus on Saudi Arabia

16 February 2016

In the Flemish Parliament, the majority parties (N-VA, CD&V and Open Vld) have approved a resolution regarding trade in strategic goods from Flanders to the Middle East. The three parties expressed their support for the approach of Minister-President Geert Bourgeois and his recent refusal to grant …

US eyes notional interest deduction

15 February 2016

"After the European Commission had already ruled the system of the excess profit rulings against state aid rules, the US is now also increasing pressure on our corporate tax," states Minister of Finance Johan Van Overtveldt. For example, the United States are no longer willing to grant treaty …

Asylum and Migration also investing more in security

10 February 2016

Part of the 300 million euros that the Belgian government recently reserved for the fight against terror will go to Asylum and Migration. "Among others, the extra resources should serve to improve our infrastructure, especially when it comes to better surveillance of access to asylum centres," says …

N-VA MEP personally pleads case for release of blogger Badawi with Saudi government

10 February 2016

N-VA MEP Mark Demesmaeker, the European Conservatives and Reformists’ (ECR) spokesperson on human rights, met the Saudi Minister of Justice and asked him personally to release the blogger Raif Badawi. “A release still seems taboo. Stopping the thousand lashes, however, is indeed an option now,” …

A thousand extra police to combat radicalisation and terrorism

5 February 2016

The police force will acquire an additional thousand policemen and women by 2019. That is what Minister of Security and the Interior Jan Jambon announced when presenting the federal action plan against radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism. That also includes the plan for the Brussels …

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