Majority of Employers Unhappy With Netherlands Government Performance

Employers in the Netherlands have expressed disappointment with the current minority cabinet led by Rob Jetten, giving the government a score of 4.6 out of 10 in a survey by Ipsos I&O on behalf of the Financieele Dagblad.

According to the survey, business owners believe the government is not showing enough ambition and are unhappy with the number of rules and regulations affecting companies, as well as high taxes.

The cabinet was sworn in at the end of February with promises to improve the business environment and invest billions of euros in housing and efforts to address the nitrogen crisis.

However, 73% of business owners surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the cabinet’s performance, compared with 70% of voters overall.

Small business association MKB-Nederland said entrepreneurs need stability after years of changing policies.

“Business owners need stable policy and have not had that for the past few years,” the organisation said. “The current cabinet started out with good plans … but so far entrepreneurs have not seen much of it.”

The survey also showed that some government proposals received support from business owners. About two-thirds backed plans to reduce disability benefits for people earning more than €4,600 per month, while 64% supported cuts to unemployment benefits.

However, most employers opposed increasing the state pension age.

The cabinet had planned to raise the state pension age faster, reduce unemployment benefits from two years to one year, and cut disability payments. The measures were expected to save €6.5 billion.

The plans were put on hold after unions threatened industrial action, but the government said the savings still needed to be achieved.

The three main union groups, FNV, CNV and VCP, later ended negotiations on May 28 and said they would not return unless the proposed cuts were completely removed.

The unions have announced plans for a nationwide public transport strike during rush hour on June 24.