Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cablegate: Director of Microsoft Netherlands Thought an Honorary Doctorate to Bill Gates Would Appease the Competition Commissioner

Cablegate



Summary: Regulation against several companies including Microsoft and how Microsoft viewed the appointment of Neelie Kroes at the time

FROM the following "SENSITIVE" Cablegate cable we learn that, according Director of Microsoft Netherlands Michel van der Bel, "the company had had good relations with Kroes in the past, including the granting to Bill Gates of an honorary doctorate from Nyenrode University during Kroes' tenure as President there."










UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002040

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], PREL [External Political Relations], PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], PINR [Intelligence], NL [Netherlands], EUN [European Union] SUBJECT: DUTCH CELEBRATE CAPTURE OF EU COMPETITION PORTFOLIO

REF: THE HAGUE 01955

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.

€¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Dutch are clearly satisfied and claiming victory over the appointment of Neelie Kroes-Smit (Kroes) as the new European Commissioner for Competition. Prime Minister Balkenende's strategy of holding out for a "heavy" portfolio appears to have paid off. Both the Netherlands' and Balkenende's image are likely to get a boost from this success. Kroes' reputation as a free-market and pro-Atlantic thinker could be a real plus for soothing tensions in the U.S.-EU relationship as well as opening a new era of dialogue between Brussels and big business operating in the EU. END SUMMARY.

€¶2. (U) The Dutch press is hailing the appointment of former Transport Minister Neelie Kroes-Smit as the new European Commissioner for Competition as a real victory. All August 13 Dutch morning papers included front-page stories on the appointment of Kroes, who comes from an entrepreneurial Rotterdam family that founded a transport business in the Netherlands. (See reftel for further biographic information.) Most commentators acknowledged surprise but also satisfaction with new European Commission President Barroso's selection of Kroes for the prized job of regulating mergers and acquisitions within the European Union as well as state subsides. Spokespersons for all major political parties have praised Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende for his "subtle" negotiating strategy and success in winning for the Netherlands what Liberals (free-market,conservative VVD) Lower House Leader Jozias van Aartsen called a "dream portfolio for a dream candidate." (Kroes is a VVD member.) Christian Democratic (center right CDA) spokesperson Maxime Verhagen spoke of winning the "top prize." Even the main opposition Labor (PvdA) spokesperson Frans Timmmermans, who had previously questioned Kroes' nomination by Balkenende and predicted that she would receive a less important portfolio, conceded his mistake and complimented Balkenende's cabinet and Kroes on the nomination.

€¶3. (U) Jacques Schraven, President of the influential VNO-NCW Employers organization also praised the "outstanding lobbying" of Balkenende, noting the importance of Kroes' position for establishing more "direct lines" for business and its boost for the Netherlands' image. Other reports describe Barroso's appointment of Kroes and others as giving a larger role to smaller member states within the EU, injecting new life into an "ailing European economy," and acknowledging the Netherlands position as the largest net contributor to the EU. Balkenende himself told the press that he was "very satisfied," describing Kroes' new job as a "core portfolio" in the Commission and her appointment as recognition of the key role the Netherlands has and will continue to play in the EU. In an August 12 press conference shortly after the announcement, Kroes pledged to maintain good contacts with The Hague while not becoming a "figurehead" for the GONL in Brussels.

€¶4. (U) Former Belgian Commissioner for Competition Karel van Miert, who also previously held the Transport portfolio, publicly advised Kroes that the job's main challenge would be to maintain her independence while also proving her knowledge of business and her ability to judge issues objectively and coherently. Van Miert praised Kroes, who had served as an advisor to Miert in the early 1990s while he was Transport Commissioner, for her energy and strength, noting that her formidable negotiating skills would serve her well. He also implied that the anti-trust case against Microsoft, brought by outgoing Commissioner Mario Monti, could be a real test of her abilities, especially if the European Court of First Instance agrees to Microsoft's request to overturn Monti's decision. The Director of Microsoft Netherlands Michel van der Bel refused to comment to the press on the case, but noted that the company had had good relations with Kroes in the past, including the granting to Bill Gates of an honorary doctorate from Nyenrode University during Kroes' tenure as President there. (Kroes is also likely to inherit the task of reaching final settlement of the Commission's five-year anti-trust case with Coca-Cola.)

COMMENT -- AT THE TOP IN BRUSSELS ---------------------------------

€¶5. (SBU) Balkenende's August 3 nomination of Kroes as the Dutch candidate for European Commissioner was initially met with some skepticism among political circles as well as annoyance with current Dutch Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein's decision not to opt for a second term. VVD leadership actually decided in June to put Kroes forward as a candidate and subsequently reached agreement among the three coalition parties VVD, CDA, and Liberal Democrats (center left D66) not to name a particular candidate until Balkenende was able to negotiate for a "heavy" portfolio. Kroes apparently was always the front-runner, although Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman was an alternative for the Agriculture portfolio in the event that Balkenende's strategy failed. Balkenende reportedly first raised the issue with Barroso during a Netherlands-Germany soccer match during the July European Championship in Portugal and the discussion continued during Netherlands-Portugal game. Barroso continued to ask Balkenende for a female candidate, while Balkenende maintained that such an option was only possible if the Netherlands received a "heavy" financial-economic portfolio. On Tuesday afternoon, August 3, Barroso made that promise by telephone, whereupon Balkenende announced the nomination of Kroes.

€¶6. (SBU) Balkenende's strategy appears to have paid off. Both the Netherlands' and Balkenende's image, both domestically and internationally, are likely to gain from this success, which comes on the heels of the selection of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer for the prestigious NATO SYG post. Meanwhile, both domestic and international press are lauding Kroes as a free-market and pro-Atlantic thinker, whose occupancy of the "most important" EU Competition job could help to calm tensions in the U.S.-EU relationship and open an era of dialogue between Brussels and wary big business. END COMMENT. RUSSEL







For a little more about this theme, see the following cables:



Cablegate helps those who study history. Next up we'll look at some other themes.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: The March of Slopfarms, From UbuntuPIT to Linux Journal and to Various Fake Sites Still Promoted by Google News
It's so worrying to see what the Web has become
Links 29/10/2025: CISA, Ukraine, and Amazon Problems
Links for the day
[Teaser] The EPO's Spokesperson, a Cocaine User, Fancies Young Women
How's that for "optics" in the EU and Europe's second-largest institution?
How Will António Campinos Respond to the EPO's 'Cocainegate'?
That's the same thing we saw and still see when the press deals with enablers and partners of Jeffrey Epstein
Join Us Now and Share the News - Part IV: There Cannot be Free Software Without Free Press and Free Information
One day, one can hope, more people will recognise that for Software Freedom we need free press and free thinkers
Join Us Now and Share the News - Part III: Principled Stance Is Never Cheap
Protecting the truth and insisting that the general public is made aware of things that really happened isn't cheap
Join Us Now and Share the News - Part II: Because Scarcity of Accurate Information Breeds Collective Ignorance
we too will strive to share information that's aggressively suppressed
Gemini Links 28/10/2025: More New Arrivals at Geminispace, xkcd on "Document Forgery"
Links for the day
Join Us Now and Share the News - Part I: Defence of the Truth
This year we make a very strong, firm statement for truth, even if that means explaining our work to the top media judge in the country
Links 28/10/2025: Meta and Fentanylware (CheeTok) Age-Restricted Down Under, "Britain Needs China’s Money"
Links for the day
Links 28/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon and Charter to Cut 1,200 Jobs
Links for the day
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part II: The Person Who Planted Paid-for Fake News for the European Patent Office (EPO) is a Cocaine User, Friend of António Campinos, Now on Record as Having Been Arrested
Background: High-level manager at the European Patent Office caught in public with cocaine, arrested
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 27, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 27, 2025
Google News Drowning in Slop (and Slopfarms That Hijack About Half the Results)
Google News seems to be drowning in this stuff
Gemini Links 28/10/2025: "How to Maximize Your Positive Impact" and ASCII Art and Artist Attribution
Links for the day
PETA and Activism
Being staff or volunteer in PETA isn't easy
Big Blue, Huge Debt
debt will soar again
Links 27/10/2025: Mass Surveillance Sold as "AI", People Reluctant to Lose Physical Media
Links for the day
Parties and Milestones Again
we've begun putting up about 40 balloons
Techrights' 19th Anniversary: Bronze
Time to go back to preparing for this anniversary
Our Latest European Patent Office (EPO) Series Will Last Several Weeks, Will Ask the EPO Management and the European Union (EU) Very Difficult Questions
If nobody loses a job (or jobs) over this, then the EU basically became no better than Colombia or Nicaragua
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, Brian Fagioli, and Google News
We focus on stories that are fake or LLM slop that disguises itself as "news" about Linux
Links 27/10/2025: Wikipedia Vandalism, Bruce Perens Opens up on Childhood
Links for the day
This Site Could Not be Done by LLMs Even If It Wanted to (Because It's Not a Parrot of What Other Sites Say)
LLMs have no knowledge or deep understanding
Microsoft is Disloyal Towards Its Most Loyal Employees
Against its most faithful enablers
19 Years, No Censorship
No factual information is ever going to be removed, more so if it is in the public interest
We Are Not a Conventional Site, That's Why They Hate (or Love) Us
Throughout the week this week we'll be focusing on the EPO
Following the Line of Cocaine All the Way to the Top
Even a million denials and spin-doctoring won't distract from the core issue
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete