After months of speculation, the announcement that Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy is to become the European Union’s first president is not a surprise. The question is how much has the speculation damaged the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose name also circulated the corridors of power in Brussels.

De Volkskrant reports that relief dominates the reactions in The Hague as it means the cabinet can carry on tackling the financial crisis. But the paper points out that the Dutch PM has not come out of this totally unscathed. Although, he never admitted he was a candidate, he never said he wasn’t available either. During the Budget Debate back in September his poor performance was put down to his mind being on Brussels. De Volkskrant says he now has “to prove he will work for NL ltd with the same amount of passion”.

According to Trouw, the prime minister can return to The Hague without much damage, but he does have to make sure he secures a high-ranking post on the European Commission for Dutch politician Neelie Kroes, who is currently the European Commissioner for Competition. The paper asks whether the Brussels lobby switched its attention to her future in the EU on time.

Meanwhile reactions from the Dutch opposition are mild. The Socialist Party says the PM has not lost face, but it is a pity there won’t be a general election. Geert Wilders, however, has called Jan Peter Balkenende "wounded game" and says he should stand down. The coalition parties seem more relieved than anything else. There are serious doubts that he will lead his Christian Democrat party into the 2011 elections, now that he has shown his ambitions lie beyond The Hague. Some Christian Democrats would have liked to have seen Mr Balkenende take the Brussels exit to avoid a messy leadership challenge.

Close-knit town in shock after boy’s body found
The Dutch town of Urk is in shock after the mysterious death of a 14-year-old boy. AD quotes one of the boy’s skating friends in the close-knit community “One of us has been murdered, that is how we see it.” The boy was reported missing on Tuesday. Friends sent round a missing alert via his Hyves page, but to no avail. His body was found by walkers in the woods on Wednesday. A police helicopter hovered above the scene which was sealed off by police. Rumours that his body was badly mutilated are rife in the north-eastern provincial town. The police suspect foul play but they have given few details. The boy’s friends told the paper, that you just couldn’t get into a row with him. But one girl does say there was a group that seemed to be bullying him. At his school in Emmerloord, the flag hangs at half mast. His headmaster told De Telegraaf that he was a quiet and friendly boy.

Urk is known for being a deeply religious town. It was once an island in the Zuiderzee, but it became incorporated by reclaimed land last century.

Telecom malfunction brings half of the Netherlands to a halt
Technical problems put Vodafone out of the air on Tuesday and Wednesday and as a result half of the Netherlands was out of action. At least a quarter of the telecom company’s 4.7 million customers had problems with their phones. Trouw reports that its editorial office was quieter without ringtones and text message peeps. Trams in parts of Utrecht were brought to a standstill as they rely on Vodafone for their communications. Politicians in The Hague couldn’t be reached and police in Zeeland were incommunicado.

Consumer watchdog the Consumentenbond, is furious about the subsequent "deafening silence" coming from the country’s second largest mobile phone company. "After all it is a communication company." Shop personnel were told not to tell customers anything. The telephone helpdesk ran a recorded message. There was no report of the malfunction on the website, which was impossible to reach later. The consumer organisation wants Vodafone customers to be compensated. Some customers got around the problem via the internet messaging service, Twitter. One customer wrote "Wonderfully quiet, no phone…." 

Documentary film shocks ministry
The International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) opened in Amsterdam on Thursday. De Telegraaf  highlights a film which sketches life in a "TBS" prison. The film Longstay portrays the lives of serious criminals who are committed to clinics after sitting out their prison sentences. One of the matters that comes to the fore in the film is the question of sex services being hired for the inmates. A therapist has made inquiries about the possibility of hiring prostitutes. The paper reports that the ministry of justice is appalled by the film and wants to make it clear that the government doesn’t pay for these kind of services. The ministry is also angry that the prisoners are recognisable on screen. It even wanted some of the more shocking parts of the film to be changed. The film tries to show that these people are serving hidden life sentences because their "treatment" goes on indefinitely. But one of the prisoners accepts his life inside, "I try to be free within these walls."

Lingerie war sparks battle of the boobs
Breasts are apparently getting bigger in the Netherlands. According to De Telegraaf, the demand for bigger bras has sparked off a lingerie war. Dutch bra designer Marlies Dekkers has accused newcomer to the sector Sappr of copying her sexy bra designs. The battle of the boobs is being fought out in the "top segment" of the sector, as Ms Dekkers is the lingerie queen in sizes F, FF, G and GG. The two brands have gone to court over the matter. No doubt with Christmas coming the conflict will continue in advertising with scantily dressed big-busted models adorning city bus shelters.