Europe Netherlands The number of bankruptcies increased in 2024 compared to the previous year: according to Statistics Netherlands, almost 4.300 companies were declared bankrupt last year, an increase of 30% compared to 2023
Europe Netherlands The names of 425.000 people suspected of collaborating with the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands have been published online for the first time, 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, making them accessible to historians and descendants
Europe Netherlands Traffic congestion in the Netherlands increased by 8% last year, according to new data from the ANWB motoring organisation, based on information from TomTom satellite navigation systems
Europe Netherlands Resident Netherlands citizens - now around 18 million - will be 19 million in 2037 and 20 million in 2058, according to new Statistics Netherlands forecasts
Europe Netherlands Sifan Hassan, Olympic marathon champion, was chosen as the World's Best Athlete for 2024 during the World Athletics Association awards gala in Munich, the first Dutch athlete to receive this honour
Europe Netherlands More than 1.100 religious leaders in the Netherlands have signed a petition against the 'strictest refugee policy ever' of the Dutch government
Europe Netherlands The Dutch government is pushing ahead with its plan to introduce free childcare - or almost so - for working parents in 2027, despite the growing shortage of staff in the sector
Europe Netherlands At least 3.000 domestic animals are better protected from wolves thanks to the allocation of €95.000 by the Province of Zeeland for the purchase of fences and other protective measures against wolves
Europe Netherlands Half of Dutch Muslims have experienced discrimination at least once in the last year, a higher percentage than the EU average (38%)
Europe Netherlands Contraceptives will not be supplied free of charge for adult women; the Hague Court of Appeal had rejected the request and the Attorney General at the Supreme Court ruled that the decision can stand
Europe Netherlands The Court of Rottdertam sentenced a man for the first time in history for sexually assaulting a woman in the street; the law was amended to make it a punishable offence on 1 July
Europe Netherlands Registration will be open for specialised centres for long-term COVID patients who can register via their general practitioners in just over one month, from 1 November; the first centres to open will be Maastricht UMC+, Amsterdam UMC and Erasmus MC
Europe Netherlands A consortium of municipalities, private investors and industry organisations has warned that if the Council of Ministers applies all measures planned for art and culture, i.e. VAT from 9% to 21%, the sector will lose EUR 350 million per year