Performing arts policy under fire

Culture minister Ronald Plasterk’s new policy for subsidising the performing arts has come under fire from a weighty group of prominent people including one former prime minister and several ex-ministers.

The big shots say the move to award subsidies via an independent body has been ‘a disaster’ for several of Holland’s top music ensembles, many of which have been left empty handed.
In a letter to parliament which is handling the culture budget today, the lobby group urges the minister to reconsider the recent decisions on subsidies.
This is not going to happen, says the body in charge of the subsidies, Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten: ‘The decisions are irreversible and do not need political approval’.
The letter writers include former EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein (Liberal), the head of the Holland Financial Center organisation Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, former prime minister Wim Kok (Labour), and former union chief Lodewijk de Waal.