The Netherlands is the largest export country of cutflowers in the world. Air cargo transport of flowersamounts to 25 percent of the total annual tonnage ofgoods that go through Schiphol Airport. However, due touncertainty of the future development in internationaltrade, as well as the increasing competition from otherhub airports in Europe and new developments in themaritime transport sector, forecasts point to a less rosypicture for the Schiphol airport and Netherlands.To maintain and improve the international competitiveposition of Schiphol airport as a 'preferred hub' forflowers, it is important to keep up with developments inthe international markets, changes in the internationalvalue chain of flowers and to strengthen the competitiveposition of Schiphol in relation to competing airports(Brussels, Liège, Frankfurt and Paris).In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework thatassesses the competitiveness of Schiphol airportcompared to its European competitors, based on a model that takes into consideration transport and logistics costs, as well as other variables like quality of services and local and business environment. The results show that Schiphol can maintain it competitive advantage due to competitive indicators as trade costs, hub position in international air-networks, quality of handling goods, and the existence of high-quality airport infrastructure and a unique business environment, which attract international business.However, the results of the flower trade analysis showthat Liège airport has become a direct competitor ofSchiphol, as this airport scores better than Schiphol fortrade in flowers above 1,000 kg. Liège airport scoresequally to Schiphol in terms of monetary, transport costsand quality of services.
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In Western Europe, cities that host International Organizations (IOs) have to deal with more and more competition. The last decade many IOs settled in Eastern European and Asian countries. Distributing IOs over several cities in Europe for reasons of political balance and give-and-take among governments play a role in these decisions. However, public policy networks are more and more operational in these negotiations. Apart from the political and administrative actors, others – as private actors and external lobbyists – play a role as well. This often leads to increased complexity and ineffective decisions. This paper examines four cases in which political gameplay influenced the location decision-making of IOs in The Hague and Geneva. First, I will introduce the subject, research method and the four cases. Second, I will discuss how public policy networks are increasingly complicating factors to the settling processes of IOs. Third, a reconstruction of the settlement processes of four IOs will illustrate this.
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Den Haag en Genève zijn beide gastheer van vele Internationale Organisaties (IO’s) en non-gouvernementele organisaties (ngo’s). West-Europese, middelgrote steden kampen met toegenomen concurrentie op het gebied van het gastheerschap van organisaties als gevolg van de globalisering. Het doel van dit artikel is om Den Haag en Genève te vergelijken op het gebied van hun beleid ten aanzien van IO’s en ngo’s. Dit artikel behandelt de volgende onderzoeksvraag: Hoe is het beleid van Den Haag en Genève op het gebied van aantrekken en behouden van IO’s en ngo’s veranderd en op welke wijze kan de concurrentiepositie van beide steden worden verbeterd? De uitkomsten: Genève richt zich meer op het behouden terwijl Den Haag daarnaast ook focust op het aantrekken van organisaties. Genève is een omnivoor terwijl Den Haag zich vooral richt op thema’s als Vrede en Recht. Verbeterpunten zijn: internationale bereikbaarheid en medische voorzieningen (Den Haag), de woningmarkt en het parkeerprobleem (Genève), kinderopvang en het scheppen van discussiecentra (beide).
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