At present, the 2003/109 directive is virtually worthless in the area of crossborder migration. European countries are busy trying to compete with each other to attract people from outside, but for those who are already here, they're busy ensuring that borders stay high.

It boggles the mind.

The Commission is supposed to report by 23/25 January on how it's been implemented (or not as the case may be). They could come up with some recommendations for changes, as they did with the 2004 partners of EU citizens directive.

Jeremy's totally correct... know your rights and use a lawyer (like him). The Dutch government is on the losing end of a lot of EU stuff these days, not that it dissuades them from trying to get away with things.

If it's any help, no-one down in Brussels is paying much attention to the Dutch capital these days...

Well, looks like the IND is at it again.

Basically a European-level court ordered the Dutch immigration authorities NOT to deport Iraqi asylum seekers. So, the bureaucrats tried to hide the letter and deport them anyway. The lawyers for the asylum seekers managed to find out and get things stopped.

http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/artic...n_de_baan_.html

'IND hield bewust brief Europese Hof achter'

De Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND) heeft bewust een brief achtergehouden waarin het Europese Hof de Nederlandse overheid adviseert Irakese asielzoekers voorlopig niet uit te zetten. Dat stelt de Vereniging van Asieladvocaten (VAJN) dinsdag in het programma Uitgesproken EO.

Woensdagochtend zouden dertig Irakezen worden uitgezet naar Irak, maar dat gaat niet door. De asieladvocaten kregen de brief, die volgens het programma dateert van 22 oktober, pas maandag onder ogen. „De Nederlandse regering heeft besloten deze brief bij zich te houden, omdat met deze brief in de hand iedere uitzetting verboden zal worden”, aldus voorzitter Loes Vellenga van de VAJN in het programma.

So, good on ya guys, you stuck it to the man.

ouloveit1 (Oct 20 2010, 02:24 PM) said: > original post
I agree with the others.

It's all relative. The Dutch speak English much better than other EU countries. Ever tried to get by in Beligum, Germany or France .. in English? Whoaaaa no comparison.

In the end - as in most things, you are gonna have to suck it up and learn Dutch. No sense in wasting your energy trying to understand why the Dutch don't speak as fluent English as you were told they would speak.

I speak Dutch - though if I am upset etc .. I can hardly get a word out but if I am relaxed .. I am decent. I have good pronounciation but no, I don't think I can ever be completely fluent because I think I moved here too late in life.

In fact, I have never met an expat that moved here for work or for a partner - at my age - and now speaks fluent Dutch. (Surely they exist .. just have never heard of one).

It's like Arnold - the governor of California. He has lived there what 30 years .. but the minute he opens his mouth .. you know he is not American.

Oh well, don't sweat it .. just get started on your Dutch lessons. It's hard.

Dutch is not hard when compared to German (tenses), Finnish (17 cases), Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Maltese... need I go on? People in Belgium speak better English than the Dutch do, in fact, but don't mind speaking to you in Flemish. Even the French have gotten into the act.

I do speak fluent Dutch and am not afraid to go toe to toe with anyone in it. I'm not Dutch, never will be either. If you're going to be in country for a while, learn the language. Otherwise learn one that you can speak with more than 15 million people. (Globally. that makes it, oh, irrelevant.)

Arnie is American. He'd have to be to be Dah Governatah.

dandm (Oct 18 2010, 09:24 PM) said: > original post
Paranoid of what? Xenophobia? Heads up it exists everywhere, and is a growing problem at the moment. Fragile economies = up go the fences.

It's all about perception. This country needs skilled migrants. A perception abroad that the Netherlands is becoming inward looking and intolerant hurts its ability to attract highly skilled workers, this is going to be a concern for the country going forward if Wilders is not held in check. Both Austria and Denmark suffered quite bad downturns in skilled immigration following their election of anti-immigrant platform governments. Denmark is only just starting to recover.

Actually, go have a look at postings at the Copenhagen Post. It hasn't recovered at all. The country launched a green card program, and it was so overwhelming popular that in its first six months, guess how many people applied?

Wait for it.... 18. And one had been granted.

I'd call that a failure for a country which is so often crowing about how everyone wants to live there.

A further example is an article by a gent from the US-DK Chamber of commerce. He writes:

Much of the debate is riddled with a mistrust and fear that foreign workers will flood the borders. But according to an IMD survey, Denmark is 22nd on a list of countries that the highly-educated find attractive. Countries like Russia, China and India are more popular....But at least we don’t need to worry about Denmark’s borders being flooded by foreigners. They’ll never even consider coming here.