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Dutch prime minister vows to tear up some austerity measuresSaturday 23 June 2012 A number of the austerity measures agreed by the five-party coalition in April will be torn up by the VVD if it comes back to power after the general election, prime minister Mark Rutte told a party conference on Saturday. 'We agreed a compromise that you will not find in our election manifesto,' Rutte said in his speech. 'We did not take the easy way out. The VVD never does that... we did what had to be done at the time.' Rutte said he understood that people are worried about some of the cuts and referred to the reduced spending on childcare, the introduction of a tax on travel expenses and the increase in value-added tax. Backbone 'The measures we agreed to get the budget under control hit the hard-working Dutchman, the backbone of our society, as well,' Rutte told the conference. 'If the VVD has a say, we will replace a number of these measures. You will soon see this in our election manifesto.' After the collapse of the alliance with the anti-immigration PVV, the minority coalition of the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats, joined up with three minority parties to come up with a package of austerity measures. The pact was needed to reduce the budget deficit to under 3%, in line with monetary union rules, and had to be completed by the end of April. Despite the initial euphoria about the deal, it is becoming increasingly unlikely many of the measures will ever be taken. The Netherlands elects a new lower house of parliament on September 12 and just six days later, the budget plans will be presented to MPs. This means the five-party coalition may not control a majority of seats, putting the entire package in doubt. During his speech, Rutte said he recognised the Netherlands is going through difficult and uncertain times. This is why the country needs political parties which will 'take responsibility', the prime minister said. What is best for the Netherlands is not 'more Europe' and political union, the prime minister said. Nor is the best for the Netherlands leaving the EU and 'retreating behind the dykes.' What the Netherlands needs is a more thrifty Europe, which keeps to the rules and protects economic interests. Europe should 'organise a few key tasks but not interfere with what we can organise ourselves,' he said. Criticism On Sunday, D66 leader Alexander Pechtold and party stalwart Hans Wijers both criticised the prime minister for appearing to ditch part of the budget agreement. Pechtold said Rutte is undermining his credibility by stating some parts of the deal will go. 'A deal is a deal, especially when you have drawn it up yourself,' he said. 'This is not the way to govern a country.'
© DutchNews.nl
" This is why the country needs political parties which will 'take responsibility', the prime minister said." That is good news. It means that Rutte is putting himself out of of the game from the outset By the_expat | June 23, 2012 9:42 PM Rutte, as Minister President got a 5 party agreement together to meet the EU deadline. If parliament were proceding as normal I have no doubt that agreement would be on the agenda. By Donaugh | June 23, 2012 10:09 PM Getting anxious is he!? How can he be ever trusted again!? Does he actually know what he's talking about!? Everything I've seen of him, especially recently, just says, i@10% !!! Is there anything I've missed? Probably. By Gerard | June 23, 2012 10:42 PM Reducing the budget under a 3% deficit with Austerity measures is exactly what the NL doesn't need. Why would we want our economy to detract in these times of falling house prices & job loses, we need stimulus not austerity. This is the price we pay for being in the EU & allowing our country to be run by a bunch of socialist bureaucrats that only care about there own political class and pay packets, they are nothing more than hand puppets of the IMF & World bank. I sincerely hope we have an anti EU coalition after the election! By Phil | June 24, 2012 5:27 AM The EU is going down the path of the USSR, It's a useless one state socialist mess that is about to collapse. We need our identity and nation states with the ability to control there own economies & make there own laws. This will create competition & innovation. The people need to run there own affairs through democracy & liberty. A bunch of socialist bureaucrats do not know what is best for individual countries & we can already see the results, we are on the verge of a social & economic revolution! By Phil | June 24, 2012 5:35 AM The EU did NOT come up with the fiscal pact, Germany did. And you know what, the Dutch political establishment, by being perfectly aligned with Germany, paid the price in April by taking the measures it took. I also repeat that the Netherlands has enjoyed overwhelming benefits from both the EU and eurozone memberships. These include a free market, a lower exchange rate helping exports and most importantly PEACE. It would be at least hypocritical to pull out when the going gets tough. By Neo | June 24, 2012 6:53 AM @ Phil. While I largly agree with your take on EU bureaucracy, it was the national governments (inc NL) who put them there. By Donaugh | June 24, 2012 7:53 AM @Phil: The Netherlands has been, since the 18th Century, a country heavily dependent on international commerce and integration. Commerce is what made this country prosperous. There is no way "nativisit" policies would be beneficial to NL at all. By Andre L. | June 24, 2012 9:36 AM Yes NL has been reliant on international commerce, but never integration. What people don't understand is that 60 % of our population lives below sea level. To maintain and construct dikes is a unbelievable cost. People here work and smart. We have no advantage in the EU. History has strongly proven that such integration will fail - USSR, former Yugoslavia. The. Most successful countries are not in the EU. Those who ignore history will fail by it. We should stick to NATO, and we we will have peace. By Alan | June 24, 2012 11:30 AM "The hard working Dutchman...." Right. I'm an Allochtoon and I don't work hard? Or has he simply forgotten about us? Or has he written us iff? None of these: this is a "subtle" populist, perhaps xenophobic, phrase. By Husserl | June 24, 2012 12:00 PM Hi, By Terence Hale | June 24, 2012 7:35 PM @Donaugh- I guess the left & right r all the same these days, excluding the far left & far right. @Andre L- It depends on what you mean by beneficial I guess. By Phil | June 25, 2012 5:03 AM I see a lot of contradiction here: By Alexandru Cojocaru | June 25, 2012 6:46 AM Moreover, 3% deficit is another State lie. Imagine that you hava a private company with total value 100,000 euros. As owner, you give to yourself 10,000 in wage. In June, your personal consumption is 13,000 euros (you borrow 3,000 from a bank). You declare that your debt is 3% (3,000/100,000). Your real debt is around 30%. The same for the State. 3% of PIB says nothing. The REAL budget deficit is around 25% (even more than 50% for some states). By Alexandru Cojocaru | June 25, 2012 6:59 AM @Husserl, I am no fan of Rutte. But imo you are seeking too much into that phrase. I have heard politicians, also from other countries, say similar phrases. It is completely normal for a politician to address his fellow country folk like that. By tim | June 25, 2012 9:15 AM Firstly, you cannot imo have commerce without integration in Europe as WWII already showed. Secondly, as you can have NATO members in a technical state of war(Greece-Turkey) peace is not guaranteed by NATO. And finally, the USA wouldn't be so powerful as independent states. Usually supporters of the "close the borders" approach are desperately trying to mask their mediocrity... By Neo | June 25, 2012 11:20 AM @Husserl: I am also no Rutte fan, but "the hardworking Dutchman" includes you as well. After all he did not say "the hardworking Autochtoon". Your comment reinforces a divide in society which is what populists wan so you are actually supporting Wilders and the like by setting yourself as a non-Dutch man rather than a "new Dutch".I won't vote Rutte, but if this were the only bad part of his speech he would be a statesman! By the_expat | June 26, 2012 11:17 AM
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Rutter's real promise is to the corporate & banksters: he did it before, he will do it again. It's the same as saying, "I promise not to hold secret meetings or lie to you again."
An election manifesto is no guarantee
& can be changed without the people's consent!
Do we really want neoconservative minded people calling the shots again?
By The visitor | June 23, 2012 6:25 PM