Opposition parties GroenLinks and PvdA will most likely join the government coalition in voting in favour of the law on the future of pensions next week. This also increases the likelihood the law will pass the senate next year.
While the government has a comfortable majority in parliament’s Second Chamber, it depends on the support of either GroenLinks or PvdA to get the law through the senate. During another plenary session on the law on the future of pensions on Thursday night, PvdA (Labour) pension spokesperson Henk Nijboer called the switch to DC “an improvement compared to the current system”, while his GroenLinks colleague Senna Maatoug said she is ready to give the new law “the benefit of doubt”.
Both politicians said they will make support for the law conditional on the question whether several proposed amendments to the law will be adopted. The pair want the law to include a concrete target to increase the number of people accruing pensions, they want to lower the starting age to accrue pensions from 21 to 18 and demand people start saving for their pension immediately after joining a pension scheme. Currently, there is a waiting time of up to eight weeks for workers in some sectors.
Pensions minister Carola Schouten proved willing to meet the two parliamentarians’ demands by not opposing the proposed amendments. Parliament will vote on Tuesday on the more than 40 amendments to the new pension law that have been proposed by parliamentarians. A plenary vote on the final text of the law should take place on Thursday this week, the last day before parliament closes for the holidays.
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