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{From Google's English] "The Association of Universities (VSNU) and publisher Reed Elsevier have reached an agreement in principle. A close call. December 31 because there would be no agreement on subscription renewals and open access - free access to articles written on the basis of publicly funded research - than scientists would not be able to access new Elsevier publications. Elsevier is the largest publisher of scientific journals (more than 2000 titles, including Cell and The Lancet). Many university took precautions in recent weeks in the case of a poor outcome. The Maastricht University Library pledged to assist the staff in the search for alternatives to come to pieces, for example through digital platforms and social media. But the emergency scenario seems to act having effect, because after more than a year of negotiations difficult, universities have this week closed a deal. Open access was the main sticking point - earlier this year there have already made ​​agreements with other publishers like the German Springer (1500 titles). The Dutch universities and the government want that publishers make the transition to an open access model whereby articles can be freely accessed (the researcher pays for publication). With the traditional subscription model, it is the universities that pay a small fortune to the publisher to be able to read the newspapers - and while the academic staff who provide those same articles, reviewt or done editorial work. The principle agreement with Elsevier implies that there subscription fee is paid, but on top of that scientists have the option of publishing in some journals at no additional charge open access. Gerard Meijer, chief negotiator on behalf of the VSNU and Chairman of the Executive Board of the Radboud University Nijmegen: 'The universities strive to ensure that in the third year of the agreement, in 2018, 30 percent of Elsevier articles of Dutch authors open access is available' ..."