Brussels, 16/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament will hold a debate at its plenary session on 13 March about the website of the Dutch PVV party, which calls on Dutch citizens to inform on the nationals of the new member states, says the EPP Group, which asked for the debate. The group's leader, Joseph Daul, has issued a press release in which he once again expresses his concern about the site and also his “anger that people can attack fellow European citizens”. This site, he said, goes against “all European principles and human values” and encourages “hatred and discrimination”. The EPP (like the S&D and ADLE on Monday) also called on Prime Minister Mark Rutte to take position on this initiative and asked Mr Rutte to come and explain his “silence” to the MEPs.
The Dutch national anti-discrimination bureaux association (LBA) said on Wednesday that it had received nearly 3,000 complaints about discrimination regarding the PVV party's website. The complaints had been made by nationals of Central and Eastern Europe living in the Netherlands, but also by “angry” Dutch people. “Most of them were calling for the site to be closed down”, said an LBA source, who stated that some complaints had been made from abroad via support sites. However, the LBA states that it would not bring the matter before Dutch justice, as it feels that there is little chance of success in such proceedings.
The European Commission pointed out on 14 February that the national courts were the only way to take action against the site, as it had no legal competence in the matter. On Thursday 16 February, a spokesperson for Commissioner Viviane Reding indicated that the Commission was not planning to take any further action, such as a letter, to the PVV or Rutte's government. (SP/transl.fl)