The FNV trade union federation is urging local authorities to reject the agreement between national and local government on transferring power, saying the deal is a Trojan horse.

Local councils will vote on June 8 whether to accept the deal which gives them responsibility for carrying out €2bn-worth of cuts and reforming policy in a number of areas, including youth social work, residential and home nursing and welfare benefits.
‘The deal requires local councils to make a large number of savings, and big cuts are being make in social security. The weakest in society will be hardest hit,’ union board member Leo Hartveld says in an open letter in the Volkskrant.
The agreement will turn out to be a Trojan horse because at first local councils will appear to have a lot to gain from the decentralisation programme. However, in the long run, they will end up with risks and responsibilities which they cannot carry, he said.
Local councils are being charged with making the government’s cuts ‘and will have to clear up the mess’.