Dutch MPs believe the €4bn government cash injection into troubled financial services group Fortis is a ‘necessary evil’, reports ANP news service on Monday morning.

The partial nationalisation of Fortis to prevent the collapse of the Dutch-Belgian group was announced early on Monday morning.
Frans de Neree of the Christian Democrat party (CDA), the senior partner in the government coalition, wants more details on the rescue package, reports ANP. ‘It is totally unclear what has happened with ABN Amro,’ he is quoted as saying.
Frans Weekers of the right-wing Liberal party VVD told ANP he has mixed feelings about the rescue of Fortis by the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg governments but agreed that it had been necessary. He said it was ‘a pity’ that no companies had been interested in taking a substantial stake in the banking group.
Lower executive salaries
Weekers said he is glad that the Dutch and Belgian governments have each taken a minority (49%) stake in Fortis in their respective countries.
But Socialist Party MP Ewout Irrgang says The Hague would have been better to take a controlling stake. ‘If we are putting so much money in, why not take a 51% stake?’ he is quoted by ANP as saying.
And Irrgang called on the salaries of Fortis executives to be lowered. ‘Now that such a large part of Fortis is in the hands of the government, agreements must be made on the salaries of Fortis executives,’ he says.
‘It is a big step but unfortunately it is needed,’ ANP quotes opposition green party Groenlinks MP Kees Vendrik as saying. ‘You can’t have a better shareholder than the government if you want to restore confidence in a company,’ he added.
For details of the rescue pacakage click here
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For a brief history of Fortis, see Dictionary of Dutchness