Preparations for the annual spring talks between ministers, unions and employers reach a critical phase this week, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

The paper says proposals to reform redundancy laws are a sticking point in the talks. It says Labour (PvdA) ministers are prepared to ‘clash’ with their Christian Democrat colleagues if social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner goes ahead with reforms without union backing.
The aim of the meeting is to come to a joint approach in getting more people into work. Employers say redundancy law reform is vital to achieve this, but the unions are totally opposed.