The cabinet has agreed to reduce its planned cuts in spending on the arts and culture to allow some continued funding of the public broadcasters’ music centre.

The cabinet had been planning to shut down the centre which has five orchestras in order to save €31m. But culture minister Marja van Bijsterveld is now prepared to put some €14m into the centre, following widespread protests about the cuts.
The minister also said she will press ahead with plans to reduce the number of public broadcasting companies from 21 to eight by 2016.
Visitors
Meanwhile, junior culture minister Halbe Zijlstra has told MPs that cultural institutions which do not attract enough visitors will no longer get state funding.
‘Over the past decade, the government has not only contributed to private initiatives in the cultural sector, but has taken over their role. This is not healthy,’ Zijlstra said.