The annual spring talks between ministers, employers and unions will take place in the second half of April, the social affairs ministry said on Thursday.

‘Everyone feels the need,’ social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner said.
The agenda for the talks still has to be decided but reforming redundancy law will not be included, news agency ANP reported. The unions want to focus on declining spending power while pay developments are central to the employers’ wishes, ANP said.
Meanwhile, finance minister Wouter Bos said he saw no reason to change government policy in the light of the latest economic forecasts from the government’s CPB advisory unit.
Growth may have slowed but the Netherlands is still performing ‘extremely well’ compared with other EU countries, Bos was reported as saying.