New rules for pension funds planned by Brussels will make the Dutch pension system unaffordable, caretaker social affairs minister Henk Kamp says in Wednesday’s Elsevier magazine.

Internal markets commissioner Michel Barnier wants to subject pension funds to the same capital demands as insurance companies, meaning they have to keep more money in reserve. Kamp says this will require funds to boost their capital reserves by some 11% – the equivalent of €10bn in extra pension premiums.
‘The pension system cannot cope with that,’ Kamp told the magazine. The minister said he wants Barnier to recognise that pension funds and insurance companies deliver different products and should be treated differently. ‘Leave our pension funds alone,’ he said.
Elsevier comments that Kamp’s position would appear to be the start of the VVD’s campaign for the September general election, even though the campaign is not due to kick off until August 25. Europe is one of the main issues.
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