The new pension law appears to be receiving sufficient support in the House of Representatives. In addition to the coalition parties, PvdA and GroenLinks are also convinced of the new law. The rest of the opposition remains critical.
In recent months, the House of Representatives has been discussing the law that makes the transition to a more flexible pension system possible. MPs talked for more than a hundred hours about the colossal and complicated law. Most of the opposition parties strongly oppose the new system, which has been under discussion for ten years.
The government wants to distribute the 1.5 trillion euro of pension assets differently. “Everyone gets their own money and young people will no longer pay for the elderly,” says political journalist Sophie van Leeuwen, who was present at the debate. “A crazy bag of money.”
SP and PVV have serious doubts and think that the law could go straight to the trash. ‘Don’t blindly guess with 1.5 trillion. There are many uncertainties and voices against this anti-social demolition bill,’ said Bart van Kent, SP MP. A no-confidence motion by the PVV against Minister Carola Schouten did not make it.
The fact that PvdA and GroenLinks now agree to the law frustrates Independent MP Pieter Omtzigt. ‘I want to remind the PvdA that you have a negotiating position with a Rutte cabinet until the votes have been taken. A polder in Zeeland is proof of this; it was kept dry as long as the support of the person who was to keep the polder dry was needed to support government policy.’
All better
But according to PvdA Member of Parliament Henk Nijboer, the new law ‘doesn’t solve all the problems, but it improves. Even for young and old. In particular, the introduction of a pension for the self-employed can count on the support of the party. GroenLinks is also willing to give the law “the benefit of the doubt,” says Senna Maatoug, Congressman for GroenLinks. The condition is that there is sufficient support for the adjustments with which the two left parties want to fix the law.
Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions Carola Schouten has already indicated that she wants to work on the requests for PvdA and GroenLinks, also to allow more people to accumulate a pension. The left bloc also wants a better safety net for the self-employed and a regime for people in heavy professions. GroenLinks and PvdA can also help the much-discussed pension bill gain a majority in the Senate, provided the bill is debated in the Senate before elections in May next year.
On Tuesday, the Chamber will vote on the House’s proposals and two days later on the law itself. In principle, pension funds must switch to the new system by 1 January 2027 at the latest.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
