NETHERLANDS - Dutch social affairs minister Henk Kamp has indicated that he will look into the effects of the new Pension Agreement on younger generations.

In a letter to parliament, Kamp said he would involve the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) in a study on how "risks, pleasures and pains" could be distributed over the generations.

The minister's announcement followed criticism from industry experts that, under the terms of the Pension Agreement between employers, employees and the cabinet, younger workers would loose out significantly.

Kamp urged parliament to discuss the agreed increase of the retirement age - to 66 in 2020 and 67 in 2025 - as well as the adjustment of the tax-facilitation for additional pensions before this summer.

This will allow social partners to take the outcome into account during negotiations over central labour agreements (CAOs) on company and industry-wide level, he said.

Subsequently, the pension providers can adjust all pension arrangements to the new tax regime, Kamp added.

The cabinet expects the proposed changes in the first-pillar pension AOW and tax-legislation lead to a yearly saving of €700m from 2013.

The minister stressed that the cabinet would deal with existing pension rights as carefully as possible and look into whether old and new claims could be combined in a new pension contract, as well the conditions to keep risks for government and pension funds at an acceptable level.

Another study must provide clarity on whether pension funds' participants can be offered an individual choice for placing their existing pension rights into a new contract, Kamp said.

He expects the studies to be finished in February, allowing the bill for adjusting the Pension Act to be discussed by parliament in 2012.