The social affairs ministry and state-run job centres are to work together to help market gardeners find seasonal staff to pick fruit, following the government’s decision to stop giving work permits to Romanian and Bulgarian nationals.

Social affairs minister Henk Kamp has told the growers there are enough jobless people already in the Netherlands who can do the work. Some farmers have used the same group of Romanians for years to pick fruit.
Farming organisation LTO is to monitor the financial impact of the changes on growers. They predict labour costs will rise by at least 10%.
Court

Last week, the courts refused to hear a case against the minister brought by farming organisations because the organisations themselves did not have any financial interest in the case.
Some growers are now considering taking legal action on an individual basis, news agency ANP reports.
Earlier stories
Minister stands firm on work permits