tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3 2012-05-12T13:02:49Z Movable Type 3.35 tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.33124 2012-05-12T12:12:10Z 2012-05-12T13:02:49Z

Hanneke Herb Prooy thinks Hollande’s growth paragraph is a mistake for Holland. ]]> Growth paragraph The Greeks are on a collision course and it is doubtful whether they will want to comply with the demands of the IMF and Europe. The new French president François Hollande wisely holds to the budget deficit of 3% but wants to get there by implementing fewer cutbacks and stimulating economic growth. It would mean no civil servants would have to be fired (in France 55% of gdp is spent on the public sector!) and the pension age, raised to 62 under Sarkozy, can go back to 60. PvdA leader Diederik Samsom also believes this is the way forward and supports Hollande’s plan to add a growth paragraph to the European budget pact. Inefficient and prohibitively expensive Eureka! It’s a miracle other European government leaders haven’t thought of this. Or have they? In 2007, at the start of the financial crisis, not only were the banks bailed out with taxpayers’ money but the economy was stimulated as well. The expense landed us with huge budget deficits and meanwhile the next crisis is looming on the horizon. Government-led stimulation of the economy is largely inefficient and prohibitively expensive. The growth we need so much will have to come from the real economy, from actual labour and production. From companies or, more specifically, from entrepreneurs. Flawed Samsom and Hollande’s plan for growth is flawed because they can only make good on their promise to the electorate if entrepreneurs dare to invest and refloat the economy at their own expense. But why would they when labour market reform is not forthcoming and stability and confidence in the market and the euro are far from making a comeback? This asks for the kind of measures that neither Hollande or Samsom would win votes with. Herb Prooy is an entrepreneur in the filed of ‘software as a service’ ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.33123 2012-05-12T11:01:21Z 2012-05-13T18:24:43Z

Hanneke Youp van 't Hek finds it hard to get away from CDA party leadership hopeful Henk Bleker. The Henk Bleker? The very same. I’m allowed to call him by his slogan 'Honest. Clear. Henk!' As I don’t know him personally I asked him how he got my number. From a mutual acquaintance, he said. Who?, I asked. He didn’t want to tell, he promised he wouldn’t. The mutual acquaintance preferred to remain anonymous. 'But why are you calling me?,' I asked. 'It’s nothing special,' he said, only he had heard that every time he is on television I change channels and this seemed to be the best way to reach me. I told Henk Bleker that I was on my way to see my doctor because I had been zapping so often I dislocated my thumb. The thing is that I am trying to avoid Henk Bleker but I can’t. I see Henk Bleker on the kids’ news bulletin and reach for the remote. I zap to RTL4 and there’s Albert with a juicy titbit about Henk Bleker and his young girlfriend (she’ll be losing the side wheels next week!). On I go to Nederland 2 where Henk Bleker is saying he won’t be standing for the party leadership. I immediately turn to Teletext which tells me Henk Bleker changed his mind and will stand after all upon which I zap to Nederland 3 where Jack de Vries explains to Jan Mulder and Matthijs why Henk Bleker should stand, then on I go to a Belgian tv station on which Henk Bleker is talking to Jan Mulder. I seek refuge at a German broadcaster where the talk show guests all look like Henk Bleker, then return to RTL4 only to see Henk Bleker in a cameo role in soap opera Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden and, zapping onwards to a sports programme, I hear chairman Henk Bleker scored three times as a striker in the Veendam Helmond Sport match and that Henk Bleker the goalkeeper had something to explain on each occasion and it wasn’t referee Henk Bleker’s day either. I turn off the television, grab the paper and read that FC Groningen coach Pieter Huistra has been sacked and that Henk Bleker’s name is being mentioned as a possible successor. Henk Bleker asked me what my plans were after I’d seen the doctor. I said I was going to the shops. We are having some people over. Who?, he wanted to know. I told Henk Bleker that my wife looks after that side of things but for all I knew it might be him. Henk didn’t think so as he was on his way to RTV Noord to talk to presenter Henk Bleker about Henk Bleker. Then he would go back to Amsterdam to participate in a debate on Pauw&Witteman with Liesbeth Spies, who is laughing called ‘Hospice’ by members of the moribund CDA. So he wouldn’t be coming to dinner. What’s on the menu?, he wanted to know. I read him my shopping list. Henk Bleker remarked it would be amusing to get something completely different, things that aren’t on the list at all. Fish instead of meat, pasta instead of rice and red wine instead of white, that sort of thing. He advised me to throw away the list and not go to the shops my wife recommended. He also told me to watch out for Knevel&Van den Brink because he would be on it a lot, each time in a different capacity: as Henk Bleker the politician, Henk Bleker the administrator and Henk Bleker the Christian. The presenters get to choose. I ended the conversation and went to see the doctor. It was quiet, just me and a lady in a burqa. My doctor came in, looked a piece of paper and called out ‘Mr Bleker!’. The lady in the burqa got up and followed him into the surgery. Youp van ‘t Hek is one of the Netherlands’ best loved comedians and writers ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.33028 2012-05-04T08:45:54Z 2012-05-04T08:54:57Z

Editor A small earthquake hit the football world when coach Pep Guardiola announced last Friday that he is hanging up his hat after four splendid seasons at Barcelona. He’s leaving his club in a slightly better shape than Verhagen has left the CDA.]]> Purmerend Apparently, Verhagen used to say jokingly to the wife: I’m off to the C***house!’ And then he thought of Geert and Fleur Agema. That awful Fleur Agema. So much of Purmerend in one female body. How is a person expected to bear this? Seven weeks of Fleur Agema. That was God’s punishment for Maxime. Watching Fleur Agema, listening to Fleur Agema and talking to Fleur Agema. God ways are severe but just. Maxime is leaving parliament and a divided little party struggles in his wake. It’s a good thing Sybrand van Haersma Buma has such a long last name. The parliamentary party needs all the compensation it can get. Are the Christian Democrats sorry? I’m often reminded of that legendary congress of party old age pensioners where Eurlings declared his undying love for Verhagen and hailed him as a sincere Christian democrat. That third rate performance will plague the memories of many a Christian Democrat. Will the CDA throw a big going-away party for Maxime? Or just a tiny one? Or maybe it will be a tiny party because there’s no-one left. Would Rutte come? At least there would be few laughs because Rutte laughs, always and everywhere Hollandse Schouwburg Last week a journalist asked the prime minister’s opinion on the fact that many psychiatrists don’t know what the Hollandse Schouwburg is. Rutte looked surprised. Apparently he didn’t know either. Is it in Haarlem?, he asked. He had no idea and was clearly clutching at straws. The dear man read history for eight years! Eight years of studying history and he doesn’t know about the Hollandse Schouwburg. I know education isn’t what it was but as bad as that? It’s sort of cute that John Leerdam discussed the non-existant terrorist Jablabla with his parliamentary party colleagues and that Ineke van Gent thinks Nixon would make a fine advisor for Obama but a Dutch prime minister who doesn’t know about the Hollandse Schouwburg is difficult to credit. And what did Rutte do when he had to admit his ignorance? Did he blush? Did he stammer? No, Mark laughed. He laughed as only he can laugh. Shamelessly, loudly and cheerfully. I’ve seldom seen a more embarrassing sight. What should he have done, you say, step down? Or promise he would read a poem on May 4th? He could do worse. And I hear there’s been a cancellation. Youp van ‘t Hek is one of the Netherlands' best loved comedians and writers For those who don't know, the Hollandse Schouwburg is a former theatre in Amsterdam where Jews were rounded up for deportation during World War II. The building is now a war monument.]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.33004 2012-05-03T12:56:07Z 2012-05-03T13:00:13Z

Editor Healthcare is bound to be a big issue in the general election campaign but are the parties thinking ahead? asks Barend van Lieshout.]]> Long-term problems The role of politics in all this is vital nevertheless. Market parties are being faced with a long-term problem which they find difficult to oversee, a state of affairs the government is comfortable with. At the same time, it would be a lot to ask political parties to tackle problems stretching over several decades. The healthcare deficit is much less noticeable than the stagnating housing market or the groaning pension funds. In an election battle in which every euro counts only the bravest of the brave will dare invest in an invisible problem. It would be a much more attractive proposition to hone in on the distribution side of healthcare: who’s getting it and who’s going to pay for it? This will give parties an opportunity to act as defenders of large groups of voters, and come up with heart-wrenching examples of seriously ill and out-of-pocket fellow citizens. An ideal opportunity to touch voters’ hearts and wallets. But no matter how we distribute costs, the problem isn’t going to go away. Ideologies don't wash bottoms Another tempting variant would be to use healthcare as a prop for ideological principles. Market forces, yes or no, for example. A socialist world view needs a socialist healthcare system, a liberal world view favours market forces. That won’t work either. A politician who doesn’t know what care for the elderly is going to look like in twenty year’s time won’t know if his ideology is going to play any part in it. Ideologies in themselves don’t wash people’s bottoms. And although it sounds nice, we are not going to be better off with the healthcare care bears who want to pour ever more money in the healthcare pit. ‘More staff on the work floor’, ‘investment in professionals’, it all sounds perfectly reasonable but without any long-term solutions any additional million will evaporate with a tiny hiss in the wake of the disappearing Agema-funds. I have a proposition:: why not vote for the party that looks beyond the distribution proposals, avoids ideology-driven solutions and doesn’t spend in order to win votes. I can’t wait to see which parties can resist the temptation. Barend van Lieshout is a care advisor at Rebel ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32996 2012-05-02T13:59:28Z 2012-05-02T14:11:33Z

Editor The Netherlands’ recently battered reputation as a custodian of fiscal discipline has been salvaged by a budget deal struck last week between the two governing parties and three small left-leaning opposition parties. Read on]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32942 2012-04-27T15:24:43Z 2012-04-27T15:32:04Z

ratings agencies, Dutch economy

Editor The edge of the precipice, misery, a black hole: we can’t see the wood for the trees in this political and economic crisis. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to tell the financial markets to listen to us instead of the other way around, writes graduate student René van Leeuwen.]]> Explanations The cabinet collapsed. Time for some explanations, I thought. Any intellectual (cough) worth his salt does not depend on one medium to make his mind up, so I watched more than one channel and read more than one paper. I wish I hadn’t. A columnist who doesn’t know either, is that allowed? On the Volkskrant website for example, professor Verbon said we should be happy the cabinet had collapsed. The proposed cutbacks would have been disastrous for the economy. And, more importantly, in the long term they wouldn’t significantly affect the budget deficit. On RTL-Z some other learned gentleman said something completely different. The collapse of the cabinet would also mean the collapse of ‘the financial markets’. I put ‘financial markets’ between quotation marks: I have no idea what they are. Black hole So far, so ignorant. The frightening thing is, however, that all these economists and analysts have no idea how this black hole, which, apparently, rules our economy, is going to behave. They don’t agree, so much is certain. And who am I to believe? The economist with the bluest eyes? Anyway, we’re falling. We’re taking the biggest tumble since the depression of the thirties. Think about the deficit, people! The deficit! And the interest, for goodness sake! We’re all doomed, one hysterical economist cried. A slight feeling of panic seemed to be getting hold. A text banner on the screen kept repeating: AEX at all time low. Small fires were started. Men in ties made for the coffee machine in a daze. Computer screens flew over the trading floor at 130 km an hour. Markets The international papers did agree, NRC wrote. If the Netherlands can’t reassure ‘the financial markets’, who can it reassure. We have become an indicator. An indicator for imminent and deep misery. ( Or as comedian Lewis Black said ‘put straws in your nose, the river of shit is rising’). Couldn’t we tell ‘’ the financial markets’ to listen to us instead of the other way around? I’ll start things off in a conference call: ‘Hello, this is Van Leeuwen. Standard & Poor, Fitch, can you hear me? Good. I would like to say the following, with, of course, the same warmth that your markets have been displaying towards people: get stuffed. I’m sure you understand. Ok. Thanks a lot, bye now’. The effect of the collapse of the cabinet on ‘the financial markets’? Are you asking me? Never mind, we’ll find out soon enough. Let’s go back to politics. It’s the voters’ turn now and then, then we’ll have security, democracy. Won’t we? After the elections all will be clear. It will, won’t it? René van Leeuwen is studying for a Masters degree at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. This column was originally published in the Volkskrant. ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32886 2012-04-25T08:36:56Z 2012-04-25T08:41:11Z

Hanneke When will politicians have the courage to say goodbye to their carefully constructed alter egos? asks Herb Prooy.]]> Clones These are just two examples of the sort of answers that politicians have been giving to a raft of questions over the last few days. They owe a huge debt to the endless media training sessions that have turned Dutch politicians into the predictable clones that they are: restrained, evasive and forever repeating themselves. Whatever answers they are giving no longer refer to any actual content but are mainly meant to have an effect on the listener. Politicians are concentrating on presentation and have stopped listening. Harry Truman, the 34st president of the United States, said the only effective politician is he who can accept that someone else may get the glory. Truman had the courage to take the impossible decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan in an effort to end World War II. He was also the man who ordered foreign minister George Marshall to come up with a plan to actively support European reconstruction financially and materially in order to keep the Soviet Union at bay. It was the first step towards European integration. Elections On Monday night news programme 1 Vandaag presented the results of a poll among 40,000 viewers who were given the choice between elections now or sorting out the nation’s budgetary problems first. A large majority recognised the seriousness of the situation and chose to tackle the budget first and then have elections. They were also agreed that the structural reforms this cabinet has been putting off should take place immediately. When will politicians have the courage to say goodbye to their carefully constructed alter egos and become effective politicians? We can’t wait. Against all expectations Truman won a second term in office. Voters appreciate originality. Herb Prooy is an entrepreneur in the field of ‘software as a service’ ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32876 2012-04-25T07:05:15Z 2012-04-26T06:37:14Z

Hanneke Former finance minister Wouter Bos has turned columnist for the Volkskrant. In his first effort he explains why. ]]> Wouter Bos (48) is a partner at professional services firm KPMG where he is responsible for healthcare. He was political leader of the PvdA and finance minister and deputy prime minister under Jan Peter Balkenende from 2007 to 2010. This column was published earlier by the Volkskrant ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32866 2012-04-24T09:57:39Z 2012-04-24T10:15:24Z

Hanneke Who's to blame for the collapse of Rutte I and should we have early elections? What the papers say. Volkskrant calls the 2010 election results combined with the emotional formation that followed it and the unpredictability of Geert Wilders which has lead to the collapse of the cabinet 18 months later. ‘The state deficit is mounting by €80m a day and the labour market and the housing market are crying out for reform. Decisive action is needed but instead the country is faced with election campaigns and a summer break’, the paper writes despairingly. Frazzled The Volkskrant doesn’t believe for one minute that Geert Wilders really was surprised about what the CPB figures meant: ‘His real motive is self-interest. He wants to unite his frazzled party from the opposition benches. He wants to have his hands free to do what he does best: launching broadsides from the sidelines. His claim that the PVV could be a responsible government party has now been disproved once and for all’. The prime minister and Maxime Verhagen, eager to put the blame on Wilders, are now punished for their ‘airy dismissals’ of the emotions aroused by the PVV alliance, the paper writes. Business Rutte will now have to be serious about doing business with the opposition. The opposition parties will have to look beyond polarisation and find a compromise. Rutte has not done enough reforming: the package he presented leave the labout market unscathed and there is no structural reform of the housing market. That is where the solution may come from’, the paper writes. But most of all, ‘politicians will have to show what they’re made off. Only then can Dutch financial credibility be saved’, the paper concludes. Pocket NRC also dismisses Wilders’ tardy rejection of a ‘Brussels dictate’. The paper notes that the one good thing that has come out of this is that the influence of the PVV on government policy is now a thing of the past. NRC has the same verdict as the Volkskrant when it comes to the package the government was going to present, comprising of a raft of measures that were ‘going to hit people in the pocket’ an increase in VAT, part payment for medication, higher income tax, a higher tax on tobacco, lower travel expenses, abolition of the basic grant and free school books. ‘It’s remarkable that a cabinet led by a VVD prime minister should go for an all out tax increase and increase in the costs of living but if you have to find billions in order to get the deficit down you may not have much choice’, the paper writes. Tempo ‘The question which needs to answered now is whether measures need to be taken now in order to bring down the deficit to 3% in 2013. The PVV didn’t want to and the PvdA, the biggest opposition party, thinks the tempo of the cutbacks doesn’t have to be this high. Nevertheless, the financial markets may urge quick interventions. (..) The solution lies in short-term cutbacks and (not too) long-term reform’, the paper concludes. The Trouw editorial focuses on a different aspect of the Rutte I debacle: the clamour for early elections. ‘The parties who are ready may use their majority to urge the prime minister to call the elections before the summer’, the paper writes. Power-hungry Trouw is indignant: ‘Other parties haven’t had a chance to get their candidacy lists in order or that groups who are considering entering the elections with an independent list will not be able to. People living abroad will barely be able to register and vote. But all this is irrelevant to power-hungry politicians.’ The mores of politics dictate that parties allow for these eventualities and choose a reasonable election date. But a parliamentary majority would change that and hopefully Rutte won’t agree with this despicable practice’, Trouw writes. Billion euro question And besides, early elections aren’t really necessary, the paper argues, because if a broadly agreed austerity package is hammered out in parliament before the elections, the concrete budget for 2013 is only of relative importance. How this will be achieved remains the billion euro question, the paper concludes. Elections, asop Elsevier can’t wait: ‘Elections as soon as possible: on the 27th of June’ it heads its editorial. ‘Not surprisingly, SP, PvdA and VVD are the ones who want early elections. They are doing well in the polls. The parties who want to wait also have their reasons. The Christian Democrats are rudderless and need to elect a new leader and the PVV needs time to come up with candidates whose conduct is impeccable for once’, the magazine writes. But time is of the essence, Elsevier says. The other options are for the cabinet to continue governing with changing majorities on the basis of ‘accords’ that nobody in the opposition agrees with or an endless formation process which will mean the country won’t have a new government until 2013. ‘A lost year!’, Elsevier cries. Contrary to Trouw, Elsevier thinks Rutte should not be lenient: elections on June the 27th please, the magazine concludes. ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32850 2012-04-23T11:50:03Z 2012-04-25T06:45:45Z

Hanneke Jan Maarten Slagter thinks duped investors shouldn't have to wait ten years for compensation. ]]> Social importance Days later the VEB announced it would start an official inquiry. We thought getting to the bottom of how it all happened was a matter of overriding social importance. Questions needed to be answered about the mistakes that were made during the ABN Amro take-over, the far too positive messages Fortis kept sending out, the failure of the ‘first bail-out’ at the end of September, and the subsequent rough division of the group. An inquiry was justified, not only because society deserved answers but because Fortis shareholders had collectively lost billions of euros. On the 31st of the same month we paid a visit to the Amsterdam enterprise chamber which granted our request for an inquest. From that moment on things ground to a halt. The inquest took 18 months to complete. When it came out in June 2010, it contained more than enough evidence of mismanagement by former Fortis executives for the VEB to ask the enterprise chamber to make a pronouncement. Following the exchange of documents in this case, the second phase of the complaints mismanagement procedure, the pleas were made on April 26th and 28th 2011, almost a year ago. Guilty Before the twelve months were up the chamber had come to a tough conclusion: the Fortis board had been guilty of mismanagement on seven grounds. The Fortis case is by no means unique. Other cases the VEB has been involved in have taken years to complete, and some are ongoing. And it should be borne in mind that a pronouncement of mismanagement in itself is only the beginning. It will have to be followed up with a compensation claims procedure. And there’s always the possibility of a cassation appeal, which Fortis, now Ageas, is availing itself of. Changes It is clear that changes will have to be made. The VEB may be able to afford to be in it for the long haul but the same isn’t true of the majority of duped investors. It shouldn’t take ten years to get compensation. The companies concerned and their executives also need to put the case behind them. Either the enterprise chamber (whose dedicated lawyers are working extremely hard) employs more people (even a few would make a big difference) or it shortens procedures. We can’t continue like this. Jan Maarten Slagter is director of the Dutch investors’ association Vereninging van Effectenbezitters www.veb.net]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32840 2012-04-22T20:59:11Z 2012-04-22T21:02:15Z

Hanneke Frans Weisglas is happy the cabinet has fallen and thinks the VVD and the Christian Democrats should now forget about the PVV and cooperate with the opposition. The economy and Dutch prestige abroad depend on it.]]> Puppet master Wilders was always the puppet master. The coalition partners’ parliamentary majority depended on his support. At the same time, he remained an active leader of the opposition. His anti-Islam and anti-Europe rhetoric became increasingly embarrassing for the cabinet and damaged the image of the Netherlands in Europe and the world. Neither VVD nor CDA chose to speak out decisively against the comments of their troublesome partner and by remaining silent compromised their liberal and social-democratic principles. I’m not sorry all this has come to an end. Once again Wilders has put himself and his party first. Those who know Wilders predicted it would end this way. Ever the puppet master, he started campaigning the minute he walked away from the Catshuis. At the same time, this cabinet crisis (the fourth in ten years!) is extremely damaging to the country. Other countries, and the financial markets and institutions regard the Netherlands as an instable factor in Europe. That constitutes a threat to our economy. Decisive action That is why it is vitally important that the collapse of the cabinet does not lead to political and economic paralysis over the coming weeks and months. We still have a sitting minority cabinet of CDA and VVD which will have to take decisive action in order to protect economic stability. Of course, a majority for each measure will have to be sought in various political quarters. If this is to have any chance of success, political parties like the PvdA will have to be prepared to forget about their short-term objectives and work constructively with the minority cabinet Rutte-Verhage. This will at least result in a solid budget for 2013. A combination of responsible cutbacks and long-term structural measures will mean the European objective - which the Netherlands championed as no other country– can be achieved. Crutch Cooperation with the opposition parties is also important when the time comes to form a new cabinet after the elections. After the debacle of the last cabinet and the PVV’s performance over the last 18 months, CDA and VVD should no longer have any dealings with that party, either as a crutch or as part of a new cabinet. They have to concentrate on a cabinet without Wilders, even if his party wins. Both VVD and CDA - but also the PvdA – chose badly during the last cabinet formation. It plunged the country into a damaging political wilderness which lasted 18 months. It’s time for a fresh start. And improving the position of the Netherlands and its prestige abroad must be among the first priorities to be tackled. Frans Weisglas is a former chairman of parliament and a member of the VVD ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32804 2012-04-20T07:25:47Z 2012-04-20T07:40:14Z

Hanneke Herb Prooy thinks the PvdA party chairman should stop trying to outstrip the SP and go for a left-wing alliance.]]> Rampant That is why the party has to rid itself of champagne socialists with big mouths and deep pockets, and those spineless regulators who, whilst wearing their PvdA hats, turned a blind eye to the culture of rampant personal financial gain among top bosses. Spekman wants them out, those social democrats who, intoxicated by the heady mix of success and status, have forgotten that it was the party membership that got them where they are. That is something that Spekman can’t forgive. A party member is indebted to the party for ever and you embarrass it at your peril by displaying non-socialist conduct. Golden goodbye Former prime minister Wim Kok and former minister Jaques Wallage stand accused of just that. As regulators at Post NL they were party to the golden goodbye of former chief executive Peter Bakker which ran into millions of euros and the extravagantly high salaries of the new bosses. At the same time a large number of postal workers were fired. As far as Spekman is concerned, the PvdA is no place for social democrats who soil the nest. All this inspirational talk appears to herald a fresh start but it’s the same old power mechanisms that are at work here: it’s about making the PvdA great again, at the expense of a party with a similar ideology. By attacking the SP, the PvdA is putting its future government membership in the hands of the CDA and VVD. At a time when the changes in the political landscape are offering Spekman & Co an opportunity to rid the country of the CDA for once and for all, they are showing a less than inspiring lack of guts. Ideals I don’t think the PvdA is interested in realising the political ideals of the party founders in a left-wing alliance at all. Under Spekman, the party will remain what is always has been: a machine to generate jobs for loyal members. It takes a lot of voters to keep that machine going and so what if a couple of people or ideals get bulldozered along the way. Herb Prooy is an entrepreneur in the field of 'software as a service' ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32773 2012-04-18T08:31:09Z 2012-04-18T08:37:27Z

Hanneke Paul Schnabel has been taking the nation’s temperature and it looks as if the Netherlands is beginning to feel poorly. ]]> Happy A large majority of people is still happy with their financial situation but is not expecting it to improve any time soon. The country’s economy has become a matter for concern, however. At the start of 2011, 80% of people thought the Dutch economy would be able to weather the storm but barely a year later that figure has dropped to 35%. Only the first few months of 2009, when people were still reeling from the aftershocks of the credit crisis, showed a similarly low percentage. In the space of one year the number of people who feel they have little control over their futures has shot up by more than half, to 30%. At the same time, the number of people who claim to be happy with their lives, or even extremely happy, remains as high as ever, even compared to other EU countries. Surprisingly enough, the number of happy people has increased this year but both in the Netherlands and Denmark – the happiest country of them all – the belief that society is heading in the right direction has nosedived sharply. In Spain, most people rated developments in their society positively. But that was in 2007 and now hardly anyone does. A year ago, 60% of Spaniards feared for their jobs – and rightly so. The Dutch percentage at the time did not exceed 6% and that was pretty much on the ball too. Pessimism I wonder if it still is. Steady employment is a thing of the past and it is hitting newcomers to the labour market hard. There are no mortgages for those on short time contracts. Renting is an option but the social housing waiting lists in the Randstad are very long and it can take up to seven years or more before a suitable home becomes available. Insecurity about the future leads to pessimism. Over two thirds of people agreed with the statement ‘For most people in the Netherlands life will get worse rather than better’ compared to half the year before. Two years ago, 43% of people thought we’d seen off the crisis, now it’s only 18%. An increasing number of people feel that the fate of the Netherlands is determined by forces beyond its control. Natural disaster There is still support for the euro although almost half of the population now thinks replacing the guilder with a single currency was a bad idea. Political preferences are extremely varied when it comes to the euro. Most PVV voters long for the return of the guilder back while D66 and GroenLinks supporters most definitely don’t. The same discrepancy is echoed in people’s attitude towards the Dutch membership of the European Union. It has to be noted that interest in what happens at a European level is very limited across the board. Local and national politics are more popular but most appealing of all are natural disasters and their effects on people. We don’t know if the present recession is being regarded as a natural disaster yet. But whether it is or not, there’s precious little we can do about either. Paul Schnabel is head of the government social policy unit SCP ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32756 2012-04-17T09:25:43Z 2012-04-17T09:32:39Z

Hanneke The state visit of Turkish president Abdullah Gül is promising to be a balancing act. The spectre of Geert Wilders, who lambasted Turkey while Turkey criticised Geert Wilders, will be hovering over the proceedings. At the same time Dutch entrepreneurs stand to miss trade opportunities with Turkey to the tune of 4bn. What the papers say. Negligible In an editorial the Volkskrant claims that the fact that the Turkish president is received with all the honours the government can bestow – a night at the royal palace in Amsterdam, a visit with the queen to the Floriade, which happens to take place in Wilders home town of Venlo – means that Wilders’ influence on Dutch foreign policy is negligible. It will be remembered that Wilders did not think the 400 years’ relationship between Turkey and the Netherlands was a cause for celebration and urged the government to cancel the visit, the paper writes. But his shadow will linger, says the VK. ‘A comment from prime minister Rutte, a gesture from the queen, all will be taken as an indirect comment on Wilders’. Farce Once again the Dutch construct of a minority cabinet held in the saddle by a party not represented in the government is causing problems. ‘The possibilities for candid talks with the Turkish president about developments in his country that are cause for concern, such as the persecution of journalists, the Islamisation of education, Turkey’s attitude towards EU member Cyprus, the way Turkey handles its Ottoman past, will perhaps not be fully explored because everybody will be too intent on not mentioning Wilders. If this happens the visit that Wilders didn’t want would become a farce’, the Volkskrant concludes. Trade NRC focuses on an entirely different aspect of the visit. Turkey has the Netherlands by the proverbials: the paper quotes an ING report which says Dutch entrepreneurs are losing out on trade opportunities with the country. The report estimates the Dutch could be earning €4bn more than they are doing the next four years. ‘They mistakenly think Turkey is a difficult country to trade with. But according to the ING things have changed for the better during the last ten years’, the paper writes. And what’s more: ‘Economists do not have the exact date but it will definitely happen: Turkey’s economy will supersede the Dutch economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) thinks it will be some time next year.’ While the Netherlands is becoming inward looking, the Turks are opening the shutters to the world, attracting investment and starting one huge project after another. The Turkish economy grew by more than 8% last year, NRC writes. EU membership And the controversial issue of Turkey’s inclusion in the European Union is no longer a matter of ‘should we include another poor country’. The tables have been turned. Turkish industry is now a threat to European employment’, NRC concludes. Values Elsevier columnist Syp Wynia, in a video interview, thinks Turkey should not be allowed to enter. ‘The Turkish values do not coincide with European values’, he says. ‘The United States would like to have Turkey in the EU but if you were to ask an American if he would want to include an Islamic Mexico in the US, he would not care to answer’. Wynia thinks Turkish entry is ‘not necessary’ because it already has a customs union with Europe. Instead, Turkey and countries like Ukraine could become members of an alternative European Union, Wynia proposes: ‘a core group and a fringe group.’ ]]> tag:www.dutchnews.nl,2012:/columns//3.32754 2012-04-17T07:15:48Z 2012-04-17T07:19:44Z

Hanneke Barend van Lieshout thinks Diederik Samsom's healthcare plans are old hat and will mean a return to waiting lists.]]> Central role Samsom has taken note of the fact that an aging population means demands on healthcare will increase, and stated that ‘the poor live seven years less than the rich’. He despises the role of market forces in healthcare which he maintains will cause a rift in society and promote unnecessary volume growth. His solution is an obvious one: the government should reclaim its central role by optimising care in the regions through insurers whose main task will be prevention instead of competition, and local councils who will be responsible for long-term care. Is that the fresh new point of view of Diederik, the red engineer? A dusted down policy from the bottom drawer of fellow parliamentary party member Eelke van de Veen, from the time he worked at the Ziekenfonds national health service? Apparently the party archives don’t hold any evidence of how things weren’t exactly perfect in the days of government controlled healthcare either. Centrally led healthcare rationing resulted in long waiting lists and capacity allocation based on political pragmatism. Samsom wonders aloud why there are so many emergency care departments (SEHs) in the Randstad. Well, Diederik, they date from the times when the government was doling them out to any hospital who would have one. A return to a government controlled healthcare system will inevitably lead to waiting lists and waiting lists are bad, especially for the poor whose life expectancy Samsom is so worried about . The rich will always find a way to get what they need, abroad or in a private clinic. It’s the poor who will be stuck in the queue. That is not very red at all. Old mantras The PvdA is trying to distinguishes itself from the other parties again. The old mantras of the redistribution of wealth with the rich paying to benefit the poor are doing the rounds once more. But the poor from those Ziekenfonds days no longer exist. PvdA voters are used to choosing where they want to get their healthcare from. They shop on the net, they have become used to service and transparency and have changed healthcare providers before a central government healthcare boss could even lift his quill pen. People are not going to stand for waiting lists, less choice or a local council which determines the kind of care they will get. We’re very well able to that for ourselves, thank you very much, and often we do it better and more cheaply than the government. It’s called market forces. Barend van Lieshout is a care advisor at Rebel ]]>