Coalition agreement

The coalition agreement lays out the accord reached by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA), the proposed parties in the governing coalition.

Introduction

Freedom and responsibility

The government combines realism about the major problems facing us today with optimism about the future. The Netherlands can address crises from a position of strength. We are going to make serious work, literally and figuratively, of solving our problems.

We - all of us together - have to balance the country's books. Not as an end in itself, but to achieve a sustainable society, now and in the future. We do not want to saddle our children with our debts.

This government believes that its task is to do only what it must, working as close to the people as possible. In this way, the government can once again become the ally of the citizens it represents. We will therefore be cutting back on our tasks and on government funding, and reducing administrative pressure through a clearer division of responsibilities and powers. This will allow a substantial reduction in the number of politicians and civil servants.

Employment and prosperity depend now more than ever on the Netherlands' competitive strength in a rapidly changing world. For that reason, too, we aim to make our country stronger. The Netherlands wants to be an ambitious and leading presence in Europe and the world. That requires scope for entrepreneurship, and not being afraid to break new ground. Improved quality - for example in education, care and sustainability - can often better be achieved through innovation than money and regulations.

The government wishes to put the country's affairs in order in a wide range of areas, and to restore the balance between rights and obligations. As well as offering opportunities, that means setting - and enforcing - limits. It means on-the-spot penalties and making vandals pay for the damage they cause. It means investing in public safety with 3,000 extra police officers, but also charging for police services where appropriate. It means once again giving professionalism in education, the police force and the care sector the freedom and respect it deserves. It means putting people, rather than theory, first.

Every individual has the right to self-determination, and deserves the opportunity to make the most of themselves and to develop. We write no one off, but call on everyone to play their part. A job is, after all, the best kind of social security. Of course, we will take care of those who are genuinely unable to contribute. Demographic ageing calls for a new perspective on the labour market. There is a direct link between the decision to raise the pension age now and having sufficient nursing staff later on.

The equality of all people is a central principle for the government. We judge people not by their origins, but by where they are headed; not by their faith but by their behaviour; not as a group but as individuals. The government treats all citizens and residents of our country as equal and does not discriminate. Freedom of education is at the core of our constitution. The constitutional right to religious freedom encompasses all faiths and beliefs. The VVD  and the CDA  - unlike the PVV  - see Islam as a religion and will treat it accordingly. The statement establishing the political cooperation between the three parties is clear on this issue.

The government protects people's freedom and will take action if it is in the common interest. Freedom is limited by statutory rules. All schools must recognise and maintain the core values of the rule of law. An open and lively social and political debate is vital to our democracy. That debate should be ideally conducted right in the middle of society, rather than in the courtroom.

The government respects international treaties and conventions. These agreements, too, offer protection to citizens and their basic rights. Where new national policy comes up against legal obstacles, the Netherlands will work, within the European Union or other international forums, to bring about changes in the treaties, directives or agreements concerned.

Minority governments are a rarity in the Netherlands. This coalition agreement is the result of consultations between the VVD and the CDA. In addition, the VVD, PVV and CDA have concluded a parliamentary support agreement on immigration, integration, asylum, public safety, care for the elderly and the agreed package of cuts. The far-reaching decisions included in the support agreement have the support of the parliamentary parties of the VVD, PVV and CDA. The PVV may vote against proposals from the coalition agreement in parliament. However, it will not support motions of no confidence or censure that relate to measures in the coalition agreement.

The government also seeks support for a resolute policy beyond the boundaries of the political cooperation between the VVD, PVV and CDA, in the interests of our country's future.

1. Governance

Governance will be based on two principles: sticking to core tasks and delivering on time. Only then can a small, strong and service-oriented government be created with less taxpayers' money, fewer civil servants, fewer rules and fewer administrators.

• The central government, provinces, municipalities and water authorities will restrict themselves to their core tasks. For provinces, these lie in the areas of spatial planning, the economy and the natural environment.
• The tasks of government will be performed at a level that is as close as possible to the people.
• No more than two tiers of government will be concerned with the same subject in a given policy area.
• The government will present proposals to reduce the number of administrators in municipal and provincial executives and on water authority boards. The government will also have fewer members.
• The government will present proposals to reduce the number of elected representatives in municipal councils, water authority boards, provincial executives and parliament. In both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the number of members will be cut by a third.
• There will be fewer government ministries.
• The government will present a proposal to scale up the provincial government in the Randstad area (Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland), partly to avoid the need for new secondary administrative structures.
• The government will present proposals to transfer powers in the areas of transport and infrastructure in the Randstad from the central government, provinces, regions and municipalities to a new infrastructure authority.
• The government will present a proposal whereby water authority boards will be elected by municipal councils.
• Local government boundary reform can only occur from the bottom up. The province will play an active role in solving administrative and financial problems.
• The government will present proposals to abolish the WGR+ (Joint Arrangements Act plus) and municipal boroughs / borough councils.
• Differentiation of tasks at municipal level will be made possible more frequently.
• The number of civil servants will be reduced at all levels of government. This will partly be achieved by decentralisation and transferring tasks to provinces and municipalities. The focus will be placed on provinces' core tasks in the areas of spatial planning, the economy and the natural environment.
• Central government will continue to work on the formation of a government inspectorate and centralisation of operational management (including ICT, procurement, accommodation, auditing services and facilities) with sound leadership, and overriding authority for the responsible minister.
• Regulatory pressure, particularly on professionals and citizens, and the burdens imposed on one tier of government by another, will be reduced.
• Rationalisation of the number of special-purpose grants will be continued.
• Funding under the Municipalities Fund and the Provinces Fund will again be linked to central government expenditure. Existing agreements will be honoured.
• The government will pay invoices within 30 days. Fines will in principle be imposed if this period is exceeded.
• Legislation will be introduced to guarantee the equal rights of the Dutch and Frisian languages in the province of Friesland.
• The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will continue to be fully maintained.
• The government will present a proposal that will make new Dutch passports valid for ten years.
• The government will present proposals that will make it easier for Dutch nationals abroad to vote in elections for the House of Representatives and the European Parliament.

The government will promote equal opportunities.

• The government will also safeguard equal opportunities for homosexual, bisexual and transgender men and women, and will develop policy to that end.
• Violent crimes with a discriminatory background or motive should be punished more severely. The Public Prosecution Service will take this into account when demanding sentences.

2. Foreign policy

The government sees it as its task to promote the security and welfare of the Netherlands and its citizens and to safeguard Dutch interests. Our foreign policy, which entails the Netherlands playing a strong and self-confident role on the international stage, contributes to this. Current international challenges and conflicts and the Netherlands' financial and economic situation call for tougher choices and an integrated foreign policy. The international aspects of other parts of the government's policy will be better coordinated.

Foreign policy, coordinated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs as the minister with primary responsibility, will therefore focus especially on fostering international stability and security, energy and resource security, promoting the international legal order, and advancing the trade and economic interests of the Netherlands and of Dutch businesses.

The Netherlands' achievements in the rule of law, the international solidarity that finds expression through development cooperation, and our consistent commitment to European cooperation and integration are traditional features of our country's foreign policy. The Netherlands takes its international responsibilities within Europe and NATO seriously, defends its national economic and other interests, promotes the protection of human rights around the world, and actively supports the international fight against terrorism.

The Netherlands is part of Europe: geographically, historically, culturally and economically. Europe is essential to our prosperity, freedom and security. Continued commitment to the European process is therefore in the direct interests of Dutch citizens and businesses. In a Union of 27 members, decision-making means making compromises. In determining our position, the Netherlands focuses on our country's long-term interests.

However, the European Union cannot be enlarged without limit. Nor can European expenditure, policy development and the transfer of national powers to Europe continue unabated. The EU should focus on its core tasks aimed at promoting prosperity, freedom and security. Subsidiarity is a crucial principle: what can better be regulated at member-state level should not be decided in Brussels. Deregulation should also be an objective in the EU. By contrast, European rules that are useful must be maintained and apply equally to everyone. The government will also support efforts aimed at securing a single location for the European Parliament.

Reform of the European budget is necessary, and the contributions of the member states must be more balanced and transparent. The government will work to achieve a substantial reduction in the Netherlands' contributions to the EU during the negotiations on the coming financial perspectives.

New member states accede to the EU when they fulfil the strict criteria for accession, especially the Copenhagen criteria, including those relating to the EU's absorption capacity and the 2006 enlargement strategy.

With the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU has reached its limit for the coming period with respect to the transfer of national powers to the Union. The EU must operate optimally and in the service of its citizens within the existing framework. Attention must be focused primarily on financial restraint, promoting economic growth, improving legal and security cooperation, and making the EU's foreign policy more effective and more coherent.

• Requests to contribute to international missions by NATO and the EU will be considered from the perspective of international responsibilities and national interests. These missions, and therefore the Netherlands' contributions to them, increasingly take the form of combined civil-military interventions. In addition to the armed forces, the judiciary, the police and other administrative branches are also playing their part. Where possible these missions, or parts of them, should be financed from the budget for development cooperation. The government will advocate adjusting the criteria of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for Official Development Assistance (ODA) to allow peace missions in developing countries to qualify as development cooperation. In the light of recent discussions and taking account of the Peters/Pechtold motion, the government will submit a decision on article 100 of the Constitution to the House of Representatives in the near future. The Netherlands will play an active part in missions to protect merchant shipping against piracy and will support efforts to bring pirates to justice in the regions concerned.

The Netherlands wishes to invest more in its relationship with Israel. We continue to support a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, on the basis of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. The Netherlands will continue to play an active role in promoting this process bilaterally and multilaterally.

A large part of the Netherlands' income and employment is generated by international investment, trade and exports. To enable Dutch companies and research institutes to compete on European and international markets, the government must conduct its international relations more actively, especially in the economic sphere. The Minister of Economic Affairs coordinates international business activities, in close consultation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Economic diplomacy will become a more important part of the work of embassies and consulates. These will be reviewed with a view to making the network of missions abroad smaller, cheaper and more flexible, while taking advantage of closer cooperation with other countries within and outside the EU and of the opportunities afforded by digital technology.

The government will advocate an increasingly important role for the EU External Action Service (EAS) in consular affairs and visa services.

The Hague will be promoted as a location for international organisations, partly for the economic benefits this brings. The government will also work to ensure that the NATO Allied Joint Forces Command remains in Brunssum.

Development policy will be fundamentally reviewed and modernised, with the report by the Advisory Council on Government Policy (WRR) 'Less Pretension, More Ambition' serving as a guideline. The basic principle will be to move from aid to investment, with the aim of making developing countries self-sufficient. To achieve this, the government will focus on policy coherence, economic growth and trade promotion. To increase their effectiveness, our activities will be concentrated in fewer partner countries and sectors. Budget support will not be provided where there is evidence of corruption or human rights violations, or insufficient evidence of good governance.

Within the budget for development cooperation, considerably more opportunities will be created for the private sector. Private sector development will be one of the spearheads of our development policy, as will contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Greater coherence will be sought between development cooperation and broader foreign policy. And we will focus on themes in which we have experience and expertise, including water management, agriculture and civil society. We will continue the 3D (Defence, Development & Diplomacy) policy and promote interministerial policy in a number of areas, including security, climate, health care, energy, water and agricultural production. In doing so, we will make use of the expertise already available in the Netherlands.

In respect of the armed forces, the government opts for versatility and flexible deployability with an appropriate level of ambition, as elaborated in the 2010 Future Policy Survey 'A New Foundation for the Netherlands Armed Forces'. The armed forces are also a full partner in the fight against drugs, terrorism, illegal immigration and piracy.

Our F-16s are in need of replacement. In 2011 the government will purchase a second Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) test aircraft for use in the international operational test and evaluation phase. In close consultation with the House of Representatives, the government will introduce a Veterans Act. It will also structure the Ministry of Defence's budget around the primary process of defence. Therefore the readiness and proficiency of personnel and equipment will be earmarked in the budget.

3. The economy

In an open global economy, it is essential that we strengthen the competitiveness of the Dutch economy. Economic development and growth underpin employment, prosperity and public services. The Netherlands is well positioned thanks to enterprises and industries that operate and export worldwide, its advantageous location and business climate and its well-educated labour force. The ambition is to secure, enlarge and consolidate this position for the future. The government will work towards this goal by implementing a facilitating policy and providing incentives in the fields of infrastructure, education, the labour market, taxes and the regulatory burden. The European Union and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are important frameworks to ensure a level playing field for entrepreneurs and consumers. To strengthen business competitiveness, the government will also implement a targeted policy to promote innovation and enterprise, in part by encouraging cooperation between enterprises, academic and research institutions, and the government. Innovation is vital to product development and exports in all sectors of industry.

The combination and concentration of general and specific economic policy, agri-food policy and innovation policy in a single ministry will provide a platform for more integrated and effective policies to strengthen the competitiveness of the Dutch economy in the EU and the world. Agriculture is an important sector that must be given due weight in economic policy. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will therefore be augmented with these tasks and will become the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. It will be responsible for facilitating a competitive general business climate and - in addition - developing policy that encourages current and future spearheads of the Dutch economy, such as water, food, horticulture, high tech, life sciences, chemicals, energy, logistics and the creative industry. This integrated policy will focus on all relevant aspects of the business climate for the economic spearheads, including the regulatory burden, tendering policy, sustainability, taxation, head offices, research and innovation, export promotion and financing. Agricultural education will remain linked to the agriculture sector and will make a substantial contribution to the quality and future of the agri-food sector. The government will set out this new business policy in a memorandum in 2011.

The funds available to strengthen the position of enterprises and entrepreneurs will be reviewed and access to them will be simplified.

• Existing funds for export, innovation and international business will be combined to form a 'Homogeneous Budget for Economic Spearheads'.
• Grants will be awarded only in the case of proven effectiveness. This will lead to a retrenchment at NL Agency.
• Grants will be reviewed, combined and simplified to improve their focus and mass. This includes the economic spearheads.
• A new integrated facility will be introduced for entrepreneurs based on existing tax facilities. It will promote profitable entrepreneurship and eliminate the restrictive marginal pressure present in the self-employed person's tax allowance.
• The business climate will be improved through the budget-neutral widening of the corporate tax base in combination with generic and specific rate reductions.
• Grant reductions will be compensated for by reducing the corporate tax burden and through the Research and Development (Incentives) Act (WBSO).

Strengthening the innovative power of industry is vital to future economic development. New products, technologies and processes will increase exports and employment. Good cooperation between industry, knowledge institutions, and government is of great importance. The relationship between knowledge, science, applied research and innovation policy will be strengthened.

• Innovation policy, its coordination and the desk for innovation funds will be concentrated at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as will the funds currently available to the education and other ministries.
• Innovation grants will be awarded by means of a revolving fund so that successful innovations pay themselves back.
• The implementation of the WBSO will be broadened, as will that of the Innovation Performance Contracts and the Knowledge Workers Scheme.
• Greater priority will be given to knowledge valorisation in business, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It is important for economic development and innovation that enterprises can operate in clusters such as 'greenports' (e.g. the Venlo, Westland and Bollenstreek Greenports, the 'Brainport' for the Southeast Netherlands, 'Food Valley' in Wageningen, 'Maintenance Valley' in Central and West Brabant, 'Energy Valley' in Groningen, nanotechnology in Twente and Delft, the Zuidas (Southern Axis) in Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam). These clusters will enjoy maximum facilitation. Regional business clusters will also be supported.

• Central government's regional economic policy will be scrapped and decentralised.
• Regional development organisations will be involved in regional economic planning.

The Dutch agri-food industry is an international leader and part of the solution to the national and international challenges regarding food security, poverty reduction, energy, water, climate change, peace and stability. Agriculture and horticulture require strengthening at national, EU and global level. Targeted investments in innovation and sustainability are needed to retain our leadership in the agri-food, horticulture and fisheries sectors. The fruitful interplay of knowledge, practice and policy is a critical success factor for innovation. All agri-food sectors (including horticulture and fisheries) must be given the prospect of innovative and sustainable growth. The policy will strengthen the economic power of entrepreneurs.

European agricultural and fisheries policy (CAP/CFP) is important to food security and food safety, nature and landscape conservation and the economy. A level playing field at EU and WTO level is essential to Dutch businesses in this field. Continued investment will depend in part on the European budget. The government's preparations for the EU Financial Perspectives for the common agricultural policy for the period from 2013 will be based on a level playing field and the interests of the Dutch agri-food sector. Dutch farmers will be encouraged to strengthen the market orientation, competitiveness, innovative strength and sustainability of the agriculture sector and rural areas.

Farmers who provide services to the community (landscape and nature conservation) and work over and above the statutory requirements (e.g. regarding animal health, animal welfare, environmental and water management) will be rewarded.

Entrepreneurs and businesses, especially SMEs, will receive more support when they contact the government.

• Entrepreneurs will be able to contact a single office, an 'Entrepreneurs' Forum', for all their dealings with the government.
• SMEs will have more opportunity to win public contracts. Cluster and framework contracts will be discouraged and the turnover requirement will be lowered. If a business successfully comes through a tendering procedure, it should be approved for several years.
• Self-employed persons without employees will also have more opportunity to win public contracts.
• An action plan will be introduced to reduce the administrative burden for self-employed persons without employees.

Administrative and regulatory burdens will be reduced for businesses and citizens.

• Administrative and regulatory burdens on businesses must be 10% lower in 2012 than in 2010. To this end, the definition of salary will be standardised, payroll tax will be addressed, corporate income tax returns will be shortened and regulations on private limited liability companies will be simplified.
• The number of statistical requests made by Statistics Netherlands will be drastically reduced.
• After 2012 administrative burdens will be reduced by 5% per annum.
• The Dutch Administrative Burden Advisory Board (ACTAL) will be the subject of a budget-neutral overhaul but will retain its duties towards businesses and citizens. It will carry out external checks in response to specific complaints made by businesses. Naming and shaming will not be ruled out.
• An 'inspection holiday' will be introduced for enterprises as of 1 January 2011. Provided self-regulation (certification) is reliable, fewer inspection visits per enterprise will be made.
• If a decision on a licence application is overdue, the licence will be granted automatically wherever possible, except in the case of immigration policy.
• Similar to the disposal charge for small domestic appliances, the disposal charge for white goods, such as air conditioners, washing machines and fridges, will be abolished in 2011.

Corporate social responsibility is important. Enterprises should take account of people, the environment and society. This involves, for example, considering the interests of all stakeholders, including shareholders, as well as continuity and sustainability in respect of the environment, customers and products.

The current situation regarding Sunday shopping hours will be continued.

Energy

Regarding energy supply, the Netherlands must become less reliant on other countries, high prices and polluting fuels. Energy security must be increased and more attention must be paid to the potential profitability of energy. Policy will be guided by the European sustainable energy goals. This entails a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions and 14% sustainable energy by 2020.

• To reduce CO2 emissions and energy dependence, more nuclear energy is necessary. Licensing applications to build one or more new nuclear power stations that satisfy the requirements will be granted. CO2 can be stored underground subject to strict safety standards and local support, but this question will only arise after a licence has been granted for a new nuclear power station.
• The government will seek a 'Green Deal' with society, in part through the continuation and consolidation of the national energy saving strategy. The licensing of local, small-scale energy and heat production will be simplified.
• Energy transition will be achieved through innovation based on good cooperation between industry and knowledge institutions, on entrepreneurship in the development and export of new products and on a number of measures that will contribute to this process. The government will promote research into new energy sources and their use.
• Sustainable energy production must become competitive as quickly as possible but will require support during the transition phase. To this end, the Renewable Energy Incentive Scheme (SDE) will be gradually transformed into an SDE+ scheme. SDE+ will be funded from a surcharge on energy bills. Income from SDE+ will be earmarked for sustainable energy projects. SDE+, as laid down in the financial framework, will not be an open-ended scheme.

In addition to these general measures to support energy transition, more targeted, specific measures will be necessary to make the economy stronger and better equipped for the future.

Energy transition will also be promoted at international level.

• On the international stage, the government will seek to strengthen the Sustainable Trade Initiative, using development cooperation funds, and extend it to CO2-intensive sectors.
• In the European Union, the government will seek, amongst other things, a CO2 efficiency standard for power stations, strict environmental standards for products, emission standards for all modes of transport and a European energy network, also on the North Sea.
• The government will call for an analysis of the reliability of the emission rights used for the global trade in greenhouse gas emissions, such as those used in the Clean Development Mechanism.
• The energy infrastructure will remain in public hands.

Nature

Good nature management and the conservation of biodiversity are important, not least for recreational purposes. The provinces will have a greater say in nature management. The National Ecological Network (EHS) will be reviewed and completed in 2018, in part through boundary adjustments, strategic land exchange and the curtailment of area categories and by maximising management and minimising acquisition. This may mean that less land is purchased. In anticipation of the review, robust ecological corridors will be scrapped. Management will preferably be conducted on a long-term basis by farmers, other private parties and land management organisations working together in order to increase effectiveness. The PAS nitrogen deposition programme will remain necessary for the effective coordination of the economy and ecology. Implementation of the EHS and Natura 2000 tasks will take account of farmers' opportunities and prospects wherever possible. Optimal use will be made of the flexibility and scope of the applicable European directives. EU directives are based on the principles that the economy and ecology must be in balance and that measures must be feasible and affordable. National gold-plating must be tracked down and removed.

Animal welfare

Animal welfare will be promoted. The government will seek higher animal welfare standards in the EU with a view to ensuring a level playing field.

• The government will in any event seek EU regulations to reduce the long-distance transport of animals for slaughter and make it possible to vaccinate animals instead of culling them to combat animal diseases.
• The government will seek to promote alternatives to animal testing.
• Action will be taken against abuses by animal breeders.
• Illegal trade in exotic animals will be combated more effectively.
• Tougher measures will be taken against animal cruelty, including 500 'animal cops'.
• A separate emergency telephone number will be introduced to report animals in distress and animal mistreatment; the animal ambulance service will also be connected to this number (for example 1-1-4, animal rescue service).

4. Finance

The government wants to restore public finances to health. Owing to the ageing population, the credit crisis and the European debt crisis, the need to restore public finances is a harsh reality. If we fail to restore them, we will simply be passing on the burden of cutbacks and their social and economic consequences to our children.

The government intends to put the budget in order quickly and permanently. The global financial and economic crisis hit the Netherlands hard and public finances have deteriorated further. The budget deficit will be nearly 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011. The national debt will exceed 66% of GDP. The economy is already picking up but the recovery is fragile and too weak to compensate for the contraction caused by the crisis.

The Netherlands needs solid public finances. Thanks to their relatively strong starting position, Dutch public finances enjoy a good deal of confidence in the financial markets. This will remain the case if the Netherlands quickly addresses the sharp increase in the deficit by reducing public spending.

The government will seek the prospect of a balanced budget by 2015. The Netherlands will thus comfortably comply with the requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The government will pursue budgetary reform and economic recovery. The overall package of measures will improve the long-term sustainability of public finances.

Overview (in € billions, + is an improvement in the balance)	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Structural
Reversal of health care personal contribution (medium- term forecast)	0.00	-	-	-0.95	-1.26	-1.26
		0.31	0.64
Spending reductions	1.54	5.60	9.38	13.36	18.26	25.42
Spending increases	-	-	-	-2.94	-3.51	-4.73
	0.48	1.91	2.60
Tax and social insurance contributions	0.38	0.77	1.47	2.22	1.34	2.21
Subtotal	1.44	4.16	7.61	11.69	14.83	21.64
Reconciliation of Budget / medium-term forecast 2011-2015 (in September 2010)	1.43	2.36	2.79	2.97	3.14	3.14
Total	2.9	6.5	10.4	14.7	18.0	24.8

The economies proposed by the previous government in the 2011 budget will be implemented.

The government will propose an ambitious package of measures that will significantly improve the long-term sustainability of public finances and strengthen the economy. The proposed measures will increase employment by 1% in the long term. Until 2015, growth in the economy and in consumption will be lower than what we were used to before the crisis. Nevertheless, we can still count on average economic growth of 1¼%. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the measures as a whole will reduce median purchasing power by half a percentage point per annum. Including the baseline, purchasing power will decline by ¼% per annum. According to the CPB, the overall purchasing power of those in work will decline by 0% (rounded) per annum.

Budgetary policy

The government will adhere to the trend-based budgetary policy. Expenditures and receipts will be separated. All cyclical expenditure will again be subject to limits. Lower interest expenditure will not increase the budget margin. This will improve control of public finances. It will also provide extra assurance as to the achievement of budgetary objectives. On the receipts side, automatic stabilisation will be made possible by means of a limit on receipts.

If the Netherlands satisfies the SGP's medium-term objective and has run a multiyear surplus on the actual EMU balance when a decision is taken on the revenue side in August, 50% of the surplus will be applied to repay national debt and tax and social security contributions will be reduced by 50% of the surplus above 0% of GDP. Calculation of the actual EMU balance will include the rate reduction, taking account of the above and a prudent estimate of the balance of local and regional authorities.

The budgetary rules (a new set will be published) will also strengthen budgetary control. With a view to risk limitation, the budgetary rules on the giving of guarantees will be tightened up. Tax expenditure in a narrow sense will be monitored more closely. Additional intervention will be required if the EMU balance does not develop in line with the SGP agreements or with budgetary objectives. This will be the case if the estimated EMU balance is 1 percentage point more negative than the projected path for the balance after taking account of this Coalition Agreement.

In the Economic Structure Enhancing Fund (FES), funds appropriated for traffic and transport, spatial planning, the environment and sustainability, and knowledge and innovation will be transferred to the Infrastructure Fund and ministerial budgets. No extra additions will be made to the FES during this term of office. Unappropriated funds will be transferred to general funds.

This Coalition Agreement is incorporated in the budget using the figures in the financial annexe. Reductions in expenditure will be recognised in the relevant budget chapter; spending increases will be held in envelopes under the supplementary heading.

5. Health

Health

High-quality, accessible and affordable health care is vital to society. People have a right to the best care available. In the Netherlands, care is generally easily accessible but the quality could be better and the costs - which are rising disproportionately - must be better controlled. Furthermore, there is a danger of substantial staff shortages in the future.

The government will aim to improve basic health care closer to home.

• High-quality basic care must be organised as close to the patient as possible: GPs, district nurses, home help providers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, regional hospitals that provide basic care and others will work together in district and village health care networks. The government will strengthen better care close to home. All care providers will be able to carry out independently the tasks that they are best at (task reallocation).
• Care that is currently provided in hospitals but could be better provided by GPs will be returned to GPs. The government will encourage the coordinated provision of care (integrated health care).
• Access to GPs must be improved. To this end, the government will support initiatives that improve accessibility.

Health care innovation in the Netherlands is too slow. New treatment methods are not readily incorporated into the health insurance package. The government wishes to accelerate admission procedures, for example by setting up an experimental Diagnosis Treatment Combination (DTC).

• No mergers between care providers and care insurers

Care insurers purchase care for the people insured with them. They should do so on the basis of quality, service and competitive prices. This is possible only if the care insurer itself does not offer competing care services. That would distort the care purchasing decisions. New initiatives must be given a fair chance. This is of key importance to improve quality and service and lower prices.

• Advanced, clinical care

The rarer, more complicated and more innovative a treatment is, the greater the need to concentrate it at a handful of specialised hospitals. The experience gained by doctors treating rare diseases, the procurement of expensive new equipment and rapid feedback of results are important reasons for doing so. Concentration will improve the quality of advanced clinical care.

• Medicines

The preference policy will be continued in order to keep a grip on the price of medicines. A new remuneration system should therefore be introduced for pharmacists that sets a tariff for each service delivered and abolishes bonuses. The method currently used to calculate the price of medicines is inadequate. If the medicines reimbursement system is to function properly, the payment limits must be recalculated every year. They have not been recalculated, however, since 1998. A clear choice therefore has to be made between annual recalculation or a new system to set the price of medicines.

• Stricter package management

The insurance package will be managed more strictly, with the admission of innovations being assessed more straightforwardly, coherently and consistently; outdated treatments will be removed from the package and those that depart from guidelines will require the care purchaser's prior approval. A number of measures will be taken regarding the insurance package.

• Collective remuneration of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatments will be limited to one cycle.
• The government will increase the number of physiotherapy sessions to be paid for by the patient or covered by supplementary insurance to 15. This will apply to adults only.
• Conditions with a low impact on health that are usually considered inconveniences rather than illnesses will be removed from the package and covered by supplementary insurance.
• The basic package will no longer provide worldwide cover outside the EU. It is assumed that bilateral treaties with Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be amended or terminated. Amendment will require the assent of the treaty partner. If it does not assent to the amendment, the desired policy will be implemented through the termination of the treaty.
• Profit distributions in the care sector

The care system chosen in 2006 is based on performance-related remuneration. That process has not yet been completed and we are therefore currently in an unfavourable position (the worst of both worlds). Money is needed to bring about a significant improvement in quality. This money need not come solely from the government. If additional money can be attracted to the care sector from the private market, it can lead to substantial improvements. To attract this money, it must be possible to make a profit. Regulated profit distributions will therefore be introduced in the care sector. This should lead to external (private) capital being made available for care. This external capital can be used for health care innovations, quality improvements, improved patient logistics and better services. Other measures necessary in this respect are:

• extending unregulated pricing, the 'B segment';
• improving value for money through the introduction of uniform product definitions (DOTs);
• abolishing patient-centred funding through the standardisation of the funding system. The funding system will also include quality criteria;
• abolishing, at a responsible pace, ex-post compensation for care insurers;
• making profit distributions possible subject to safeguards to protect the public interests in the care system. No profits will be distributed during the first three years of an investment. Profit distributions will be subject to the positive assessment by an independent supervisor of pre-set minimum quality requirements and the positive assessment of financial buffers, based, for example, on minimum capital requirements. Instruments and regulations to ensure that hospitals in financial difficulties can still provide essential care services will relate wherever possible to the hospitals' own responsibility and an early warning system (Source: SEO Economic Research, 'Winst in de eigendomsstructuur; Eigendom, winstbestemming en zeggenschap binnen ziekenhuizen', Amsterdam, February 2010);
• introducing a hospital framework. To prevent cherry-picking in the care sector, independent treatment centres will also be included in the hospital regime during the transitional phase.

Improved governance
The position of a hospital's management board will be strengthened relative to that of the medical specialists.

Promoting client self-management
The use of e-mental health will be promoted in order to strengthen client self-management.

VAT Compensation Fund
A VAT Compensation Fund will be introduced in the care sector. More work can then be outsourced and efficiency and quality can be improved.

Transfer of rehabilitation care to the Health care Insurance Act.
Rehabilitation care is short-term in nature and therefore fits in well under the Health care Insurance Act. Rehabilitation care will therefore be transferred from the Exceptional Medical Expenses Act (AWBZ) to the Health Insurance Act.

Limits on golden handshakes in the care sector
Golden handshakes in the care sector will be reduced to a minimum. The maximum severance payment for care managers will be set by law at €75,000.

Restricted intake
To meet the demand for 25% more doctors by 2025, restricted intake or numerus clausus will be abolished over five years in accordance with the report of the Council for Public Health and Care. Abolishing the numerus clausus is also a precondition for the effective operation of market forces in the care sector.

Mental health care

• Good mental health care will remain insured for those who need it. To this end, properly functioning primary care is essential. The government will seek a good, integrated mental health care system in the primary care sector.
• The personal contribution for primary mental health care will be increased and a personal contribution will be introduced for secondary mental health care. Certain secondary mental health care services will be provided in the primary sector.
• Mental health care clients who do not keep their appointments will pay for the cost of the appointment.
• The number of sessions with a primary care psychologist that are reimbursed under the basic health insurance package will be reduced from eight to five.
• Greater efficiency will be sought in the mental health care sector.

Youth care
There are serious concerns about the provision of youth care. The current organisation and operation of youth care must undergo fundamental change. The youth care system will be reviewed to improve its effectiveness. To this end, the government will take the following measures:

• A single funding system will be introduced for the current prevention policy, current voluntary provincial youth care, care for young people with mild mental disabilities and youth mental health care.
• In line with the report issued by the parliamentary working group on the future of youth care, there will be a phased transfer of all youth care tasks to the municipalities. These tasks include youth mental health care (both those covered by the AWBZ and those covered by the Health care Insurance Act), provincial youth care, secure youth care, youth probation and aftercare services, youth protection and care for young people with mild mental disabilities. Prevention and voluntary help will be organised and closely coordinated with compulsory help by municipalities (working together or alone).
• On their transfer to the municipalities, the Youth and Family Centres that have been set up will act as front offices for all municipal youth care services.

Smoking ban
The current ban on smoking will be relaxed. The smoking ban works well in most bars and restaurants. The sector has largely become smoke-free but in many small bars that do not employ staff there is no desire for a smoking ban. Following the German example, the government intends to exempt bars and cafés that are smaller than 70m2 from the smoking ban.

Sport
Sport has an important function in society and the economy. Sport helps make children and young people healthier and more sociable. Adults and the elderly who exercise remain fitter and healthier. These benefits can be provided chiefly by schools and sports clubs, preferably located as closely as possible to local people. Sport in all neighbourhoods has both health and public safety benefits.

• The government will seek more sports lessons at primary, vocational and secondary schools.
• Together with the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, the government will promote the integration of sport and sports facilities in district plans in order to improve the quality of life.

Cooperation between the government, the sports sector and industry is necessary to promote both elite and recreational sport in the Netherlands. One initiative that could stem from such cooperation, for example, is the provision of private grants to elite athletes. World-class sporting events in the Netherlands contribute to an elite sport climate and will help the Netherlands to reach Olympic standard. The government supports the Netherlands' and Belgium's candidacy to organise the 2018/2022 football World Cup and wants to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Netherlands. It must be clear that the Dutch government will remain in charge during these events, not the IOC or FIFA.

The government is in favour of a greater proportion of lottery income being spent on sport.

6. Immigration

General

Our asylum and migration policy is strict but just. In the light of current social problems immigration needs to be urgently restructured, controlled and reduced. Achieving this is one of the government's main policy objectives. Our policy will be just, because it is based on the principle that people have rights. The Netherlands will continue to protect and receive refugees where, under the terms of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, they are the victims of persecution for whom the Netherlands is the first safe country. This is not the case for asylum seekers who prove to be economic migrants. That is why we will determine as quickly as possible to which category asylum seekers belong and whether they can stay in the Netherlands or have to leave. Migration policy, especially policy on family migration, focuses on restricting and reducing the number of migrants with few future prospects coming to the Netherlands. This will enable us to tackle the problem of integration more effectively, partly with a view to the participation of those who are admitted. To this end the government will make use as far as possible of the scope for a restrictive and selective migration policy offered by existing legal frameworks, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). It will do this by proposing new legislation and by stepping up the monitoring, enforcement and implementation of existing regulations, including those relating to new information systems, data exchange and techniques for establishing identity. Where possible the government will work together with other countries, especially neighbouring EU member states and countries of origin outside the EU. Return and deportation policy will be tightened up, and remaining in the country illegally will be a criminal offence.

Aliens convicted of criminal offences will be expelled earlier and more frequently. Tough measures will be taken to combat people smuggling. The effective integration of newcomers and groups is a complex and demanding process that is of great importance to society as a whole. The most important criterion is that participation in our society requires sufficient educational and language qualifications. An adequate level of civic integration among asylum seekers and migrants who have been admitted to the country is key to full participation in society for themselves and their children in terms of work and education. We are entitled to expect this of newcomers. They themselves are responsible for their integration. If they fail to make the necessary effort, this will have consequences given the implications for social security and the importance of labour market participation. Those who fail their civic integration examination will, with some exceptions, have their temporary residence permits revoked.

In implementing this policy the government will also introduce initiatives to amend EU directives and possibly, if there prove to be no alternatives for important measures and in consultation with other member states, to amend treaties and conventions. Implementation of the whole package of measures on asylum and migration will result in a very substantial fall in the influx of immigrants.

Asylum

It is preferable for the reception of asylum seekers to take place in their country or region of origin. The government's aim is effective implementation of the Dublin Convention, the Dublin Regulation and the associated regulations, which require that applications for asylum are dealt with by the member state responsible for them. The Netherlands makes an active contribution to the reception of asylum seekers elsewhere and to the processing of applications for asylum by the responsible member state by working together with the countries concerned and with international organisations like UNHCR. The policy of categorial protection will be discontinued, including the legislation underpinning it.

Applications for asylum will be dealt with as effectively, efficiently and carefully as possible.

• Opportunities for procedures to accumulate will be reduced, procedures will be speeded up, legal aid provisions will be modified so that, after the first application has been processed, there will no incentive to initiate new procedures (follow-up procedures on a 'no-cure-no-fee' basis), and it will not always be possible to stay in the Netherlands while waiting for the ruling on provisional relief.
• Every effort will be made in the case of undocumented asylum seekers to attach greater weight to failure to produce proof of identity.
• Steps will be taken to combat fraud during the processing of applications for asylum, by exchanging information and deploying new techniques for establishing identity.
• Within the limits of the case law of the Council of State, the burden of proof will be given greater weight and will come to rest more heavily on the applicant.
• The government will argue for a change to the EU Qualification Directive so that the burden of proof rests more heavily on the applicant in respect of proving the absence of refuge alternatives.

Family members joining asylum seekers later will no longer automatically receive asylum status, but will fall under the regular policy for family migration, meaning that they will not have to meet any requirements for income or integration abroad.

In the case of unaccompanied minors every effort will be made to effect their return, under the condition that reception is available for them locally. It is therefore important that funds from the development budget are used to invest in extra local reception facilities, including orphanages. In addition, the government will implement the EU Return Directive (2008/115).

Family migration

Family migration refers to the arrival in the Netherlands of family members of people who are legally resident here. This can create a migration chain in which, with each new generation, partners - often relations - and children come to the Netherlands from the country of origin. This has adverse consequences for the integration process, with each successive generation falling further behind. The resulting negative spiral can be broken only by imposing stricter requirements on this type of family formation and reunification including a level of educational qualification that guarantees successful integration. To this end, the government will propose that changes be made to the European directive. In the light of the above the government will submit a number of proposals and measures.

• The possibility of family formation and family reunification will be limited to partners who are married or in a registered partnership, and to children who are minors.
• They will be admitted only if the family member they are joining has been legally resident in the Netherlands for at least a year. This does not apply to highly skilled migrants.
• Family migrants will also have to fulfil new admission requirements: they must have independent accommodation and medical insurance.
• The period after which family migrants can apply for an independent residence permit will be extended from three to five years, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• The fees for family migration will be made as cost-neutral as possible.
• Policy to combat marriages of convenience or forced marriages will be tightened up and enforcement intensified.
• Forced marriage is illegal and will be made a criminal offence.
• In principle marriage between cousins will be illegal.
• Polygamous marriages will not be recognised.
• The examination requirements set out in the Civic Integration (Preparation Abroad) Act will be stricter.

Important new requirements for family migration can be introduced, for example, by modifying the EU directive on the right to family reunification (2003/86).

The government will argue for:

• an increase in the age requirement for partners to 24;
• admission of a maximum of one partner every ten years;
• an increase in the income requirement to at least 120% of the minimum wage;
• the introduction of a deposit;
• the introduction of an assessment to prove that ties with the Netherlands are stronger than those with other countries; and
• exclusion of the possibility that family members of persons convicted of violent crimes are admitted.

Lastly, in the light of the importance of qualifications for participation and integration, the government will argue for the option of imposing educational requirements on migrants to be included in the directive.

With these measures the Netherlands will be in a position to enable people who come to the country legally to participate fully in society.

Labour migration

Permits can only be issued to labour migrants from outside the EU who are not highly skilled if the employer can prove that it was not possible to fill the vacancies with workers from the Netherlands, the EU member states or the European Economic Area (EEA). Employment permits will be issued only if the employer pays at least the statutory minimum wage. The statutory minimum wage will be a minimum requirement for labour migrants. For Romanians and Bulgarians the requirement that they have an employment permit will remain in force until 1 January 2014 if the current circumstances do not change. The government will investigate whether and to what extent it is possible and desirable to tighten up policy on labour migration.

The government will ensure that these measures do not obstruct the development of the knowledge economy. The highly skilled migrant scheme is of great importance, but the government will investigate whether it is being abused. If necessary, further educational requirements may be imposed.

Immigration in general

The government will take measures to limit the admission of immigrants without prospects, promote integration and combat fraud and abuse, including tightening up residence permit requirements, intensifying return policy and tackling illegality. As far as permits are concerned, the new measures will relate to applying for a regular permit while still abroad, the requirements for issuing a permanent residence permit, the exercise of discretionary powers and the withdrawal of the permits of migrants resident abroad.

The main rule for applications for a regular residence permit is that they should be submitted before the applicant comes to the Netherlands. This is also intended to prevent asylum seekers applying for regular residence permits if their asylum application is denied. Over the years, a series of exceptions have been allowed to this rule. The government will present a proposal that applications for regular permits should be submitted abroad.

• This will mean that applications for regular permits submitted in the Netherlands will not be processed, with the consequence that the applicant will no longer be in the country legally.
• The proposal also means that all humanitarian and medical considerations relating to the asylum procedure will be assessed by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) and that all 'M50' desks will be closed.
• In anticipation of this measure the government will scrap the exemptions from the requirement for an authorisation for temporary stay (MVV) for those who were in the Netherlands legally for five consecutive years while they were minors and for those who are eligible for return to the Netherlands on the basis of the Repatriation Act.

Permanent asylum residence permits will be issued only to applicants with a basic qualification, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The government will argue for changes to the EU directive on long-term residents (2003/109) to allow the introduction of a requirement for a basic qualification for regular applications.

Restraint will be the main principle in the issue of permits on the basis of discretionary powers.

Temporary or permanent residence permits can be revoked during or after a period spent outside the Netherlands. The government will reduce the current periods after which permits may be revoked and scrap the exemption for those held in detention abroad.

In addition, other than in exceptional circumstances, temporary residence permits will be revoked and permanent residence permits will not be issued if holders prove not, or no longer, to fulfil the income requirements. The IND and municipalities will work more closely together in this context.

Return and deportation policy will be stepped up.

• This objective will be pursued by the government as a whole in international contacts and bilateral relations with other countries.
• Families with children will receive priority.
• If necessary, enforcement capacity will be expanded.

Illegality, in the sense of aliens residing in the Netherlands unlawfully, is a serious problem. It is often accompanied by various forms of nuisance and criminal activity, including people smuggling, and by appalling living conditions. This also erodes confidence in asylum and migration policy and has a detrimental effect on the integration process.

• The government will advocate making illegality a criminal offence and focus enforcement mainly on persons causing nuisance or indulging in criminal behaviour, with the aim of deporting them from the country as soon as possible.
• These measures are part of a broader strategy to tackle crime among aliens. It will also increase the likelihood that aliens who are lawfully resident here but who are convicted of crimes will be deported. To this end, the government will make the 'sliding scale' stricter.
• The government will tackle human trafficking more resolutely, including abuse of the residence arrangement for victims.
• More frequent use will be made of the possibility of declaring persons to be undesirable aliens and terminating the residence rights of EU citizens with criminal records. To this end, the government will argue for a change to the EU directive on the free movement of persons (2004/38).
• Tougher measures will be taken to combat cross-border crime committed in the Netherlands by aliens resident in other countries, illegal immigrants and people smugglers, including mobile border controls by the Royal Military and Border Police.
• Applications for a residence permit will be denied if the applicant is or has been residing in the Netherlands illegally, unless there are medical grounds opposing this or the applicant is an unaccompanied minor or a witness/informant in a human trafficking case. The government will argue for a change in the EU directive on the free movement of persons (2004/38) so that family formation or reunification does not have to be added to these two categories.

The government will take maximum advantage of the option to deny radical clergy admission to the Netherlands or to deport them, if there is good cause to do so for reasons of public order or national security.

The government will present a proposal for legislation on the movement of persons which is based on the principle of reciprocity and also offers the option of imposing requirements for admission, residence and return to countries in the Kingdom (Curacao, Aruba, St Maarten and the Netherlands).

In the context of Europe, the government will argue for the inclusion of the two-yearly reports on corruption and legal reform in Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen evaluation of these two countries. If these reports show that they do not meet the strict criteria, the Netherlands will not support the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to Schengen and abolition of the internal border controls in the EU, and Bulgaria and Romania will not be admitted to Schengen.

In the EU the government will argue for a rule that member states cannot decide on a general amnesty for aliens. The government wants to see closure of the 'Europe route', whereby family migrants from third countries evade the national admission requirements of EU member states or family members of EU citizens are not subject to the regular requirements.

Integration

It can be expected of everyone who comes to the Netherlands to settle that they abide by the rules that apply here and play an active part in society by acquiring a sufficient command of the Dutch language, and through education and employment. Qualifications are the key to successful participation and integration. The earlier these are acquired, the greater the chances of successful integration. It is therefore important to impose stricter language and educational requirements on those who wish to be admitted to and settle in our country.

• The recognition of educational qualifications obtained outside the EU and of prior learning, taking account of the norms prevailing in the Netherlands, is the responsibility of the competent body and will be speeded up as much as possible. This will improve the opportunities of the migrants concerned.
• Migrants and asylum seekers are themselves responsible for their integration into Dutch society. For those who do not have sufficient resources of their own, the government will introduce a system of loans, which will have to be repaid. The basic principle for the government is that failure to pass the civic integration examination, unless there are exceptional circumstances, will result in the participant's temporary regular residence permit being revoked.
• The government will argue for the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement to be amended so that residents of Turkey have an obligation to integrate.

The government will abolish the diversity/affirmative action policy on the basis of gender and ethnic origin. Selection must be based on quality. There will be a reporting code for culturally related domestic violence and child abuse. The government will present a proposal for a general ban on burkas and other clothing that covers the face. Regulations will be introduced prohibiting the wearing of headscarves by police officers and members of the judiciary.

Central government will cut back on grants related to integration, with the exception of the grant to the Dutch Council for Refugees (Vluchtelingenwerk). The government will not provide grants to organisations that engage in activities that aim to counter integration.

Being granted Dutch citizenship is the reward for success on three counts: qualifications, participation and integration.

• The government will present a proposal to set the minimum period for naturalisation at five years in a greater number of cases and to supplement the requirements for naturalisation with criteria relating to educational qualifications and financial resources, and a stricter public order requirement. The latter will include not having a criminal record (with the exception of a conviction under juvenile criminal law, a sentence to imprisonment for a maximum of three months or for fines equivalent to a maximum of 90 days' detention). There will be a language requirement for persons opting for Dutch nationality.
• The government's proposal also means that Dutch nationality will only be definitively granted if the applicant renounces any other nationalities, in as far as they can be renounced.
• The government will present a proposal to deprive of their Dutch nationality persons who, within five years of it being granted, are convicted of a crime carrying a sentence of 12 years or more. To this end efforts will be made to allow a broader interpretation of article 7, paragraph 1(d) of the European Convention on Nationality. If this proves impossible, the government will seek agreement with the other signatories on an amendment to the Convention. If, before 1 January 2012, it becomes clear that the parties are not prepared to make such an amendment, Dutch legislation will be amended so that, for the first five years, Dutch nationality will be granted on a provisional basis which, taking account of the stricter requirements for renouncing other nationalities, will then automatically become permanent unless the candidate has been convicted of an offence carrying a sentence of 12 years or more.

The major importance assigned to labour participation and integration in the Netherlands also has consequences for the social security system.

• If someone's behaviour or clothing effectively limits their chances on the labour market, their benefit may be refused, reduced or revoked on the basis of the Work and Social Assistance Act (WWB). If necessary the government will present a proposal to this effect.
• In the context of social security the relationship with the country of origin of migrants and asylum seekers is also of relevance. As far as possible the government will seek the cooperation of local authorities in these countries in monitoring and enforcing the means test in the WWB.

The government will seek to limit the export of social services, for example by:

• stopping the export of child benefit and the means-tested child allowance to countries outside the EU and
• applying the country-of-residence principle to general old-age pensions and work resumption benefits for persons partially capable of work.

7. Infrastructure

The Netherlands needs a good road and public transport infrastructure to maximise accessibility for people and enterprises. Efficient traffic flows are the lifeblood of the economy. People have the freedom to travel. Traffic jams will be tackled and mobility will be improved to strengthen the economy and improve the environment.

• Road pricing will not be introduced.
• There will be a shift from fixed charges to variable charges by means of increases in fuel duties with a simultaneous and proportionate reduction in fixed charges. To this end, the government will seek consultation with neighbouring countries and the EU.
• An additional €500 million will be invested in road and rail.
• The government will work with industry on additional measures to reduce congestion, such as park and ride facilities, intermodal terminals, car pooling, good cycling facilities, incident management and an increase in teleworking.
• The government will invest in inland shipping to relieve roads and the environment.

The system of dynamic speed limits will be extended. The maximum speed on motorways will be increased to 130 km/h. The maximum speed limit on other roads will also be reviewed. If necessary for air quality, noise pollution or road safety, lower maximum speed limits will be introduced. When saliva testing for drugs becomes reliable, it will be used to prevent driving under the influence of drugs.

Public transport must become more accessible, reliable and efficient.

• Access to border regions by train will be improved.
• Train services in border regions will be developed on a cross-border basis, with connections with foreign high-speed trains.
• The High Frequency Rail programme for timetable-less travel will be implemented, with due account being taken of the residential and living environment.
• Stations and trains will be adapted more quickly to improve disabled access to public transport.
• Safety on public transport will be improved. Public transport employers will assume responsibility from employees for reporting acts of violence against employees.

Schiphol is of great importance to the Dutch economy and, in accordance with the agreements made at the 'Alders Tables' (consultation rounds on the future of Lelystad, Eindhoven and Schiphol airports and their surroundings), it will be allowed to grow into a sustainable and competitive airport. An increase in the quality of the global route network is essential.

• The government will ensure that the cost base is competitive.
• Policy will promote a global strategy on emissions trading to ensure a level playing field.

Regional airports, too, are conducive to economic development.

Goods transport has traditionally been an important pillar of the Dutch economy. The Port of Rotterdam plays a key role. The government robustly supports the further development of the port and industrial area through the construction of a new port area (the second Maasvlakte) with associated nature compensation. The Port of Rotterdam will thus be able to consolidate and further enhance its international competitiveness.

The construction and maintenance of the road and public transport infrastructure will benefit from closer cooperation between the government and industry.

• A large number of public-private infrastructure projects will be launched nationally.
• The rule that public-private partnerships must be recognised immediately in the budget will be reviewed.
• Construction and use of additional infrastructure, such as super highways, can be funded from investments by, for example, pension funds and toll charges. Tolls will not be charged on the ordinary road network.
• Public transport in the three largest cities will be subject to compulsory tendering, with quality and reliable and up-to-date journey information being essential tendering criteria.
• The quality and effectiveness of the main rail network must be significantly improved in order to make substantial savings.

Government decision-making on the construction of infrastructure projects will be speeded up and simplified.

• The MIRT Multiyear Programme for Infrastructure, Spatial Planning and Transport will be extended from 2020 to 2028. Priority will be given to 'brainports', 'mainports' and 'greenports'. Provinces and regions will be allowed to pre-finance MIRT investments and, subject to agreement, will take the initiative and responsibility for them more often. Agreements will be made with provinces and large municipalities on the cofinancing of infrastructure, in any event with regard to related environmental measures over and above the statutory minimum.
• The Randstad Urgent programme (consisting of a number of projects in which the government, provinces, municipalities and metropolitan regions take a common approach to problems in the Randstad conurbation to improve accessibility, the economy, the living environment, etc.) will be continued and extended to other parts of the country.
• The government will implement the Elverding Committee's recommendations to accelerate decision-making on infrastructure projects.
• The government will present proposals to consolidate and simplify environmental legislation and to streamline and modernise the General Administrative Law Act.

Greater protection from flooding from the many rivers that cross our delta will remain a core government task and is necessary to continue to satisfy applicable standards.

• Overdue maintenance will be carried out.
• The safety of dikes and flood defences will be improved.
• Coastal defences will be strengthened.
• No new depoldering decisions will be taken; existing plans will be reconsidered.
• Now the deepening of the Western Scheldt has been completed, an alternative to the depoldering of the Hedwig polder in Zeeland Flanders will be sought in consultation with Flanders. Plans already developed by the water authorities in Zeeland will also be considered.
• The government will further study the Delta Committee's proposals and implement them in the MIRT.
• The government and the authorities concerned will improve the efficiency of water management.
• The Haringvliet Locks Management Decree will be revoked.

Spatial planning and the environment

Spatial planning

The various interests at play in spatial planning will be comprehensively reviewed so that decisions can be taken as transparently and as close to those directly affected as possible.

• The government will present proposals to leave more spatial planning to provinces and municipalities.
• Supervision and management of spatial planning and housing will be transferred to the provinces.

The environment

Conserving and improving a healthy living environment for now and for later calls for sustainable answers to issues surrounding fossil fuel use and air, water and soil pollution. A level playing field in the EU and the world as a whole will be an important factor in new regulations. Tackling the burden on the living environment is not only a matter for the government but is also a potential source of economic growth and development. Enterprises that develop and export new products in this field help to improve the environment and generate profits. They will be supported by innovation policy.

• With the exception of road pricing measures, the national air quality cooperation programme will be further implemented.
• The government will seek a level playing field in Europe regarding standards on emissions, vehicle noise and vibration levels, public transport, aviation and shipping in order to ease the burden on the residential and living environment.
• Tax incentives to purchase and lease environmentally friendly cars will be continued; the pricing system will be made more transparent and will reward environmental performance in absolute terms.
• The quality of surface water will be improved, particularly in urban areas.
• Government, industry and knowledge institutions will work together more closely on waste processing and waste management.
• The government will present proposals to simplify and modernise environmental legislation and to make the Crisis and Recovery Act permanent.

8. Education

The Netherlands aspires to be one of the top five knowledge economies worldwide. To achieve this, we need to improve the quality of education and raise the level of performance.

In every branch and level of education, the main focus will be on the core task of providing good education in sufficient contact hours. The job of management and support staff will be to facilitate this. Teachers must be free to concentrate on their professional teaching role. Overheads will be reduced and more scope will be created for professionalism within education. To achieve wider excellence in educational provision, we need a more structured approach and a greater concentration on knowledge. The aim will be an absolute quality standard with greater weight being attached to added value. Every talent will count, whether we are talking about youngsters with disabilities, pupils in vocational education who are good with their hands or high-flying university students.

Performance will be an essential precondition, not a dirty word. Everyone involved in the educational process will be expected to do their best: parents, teachers, pupils and members of school boards. The focus will be on a solid basis and higher standards. A smoother transition will be created between the various types of education. During weekends and holiday periods, greater use will be made of educational buildings, infrastructure and facilities for activities relating to education and training, such as summer schools and life-long learning. Efficiency savings will be made by reducing the funding of advisory bodies and institutes. These will not affect the primary teaching process but will reduce the administrative burden and unnecessary proliferation of educational bodies. Priorities within the education budget will be re-ordered to benefit the quality of education.

The building blocks of the knowledge economy will be firmly laid at every level of the education system. The core business of primary schools will be the teaching of language skills and arithmetic.

• Coercion will be used to ensure that children with a severe language disadvantage participate in early years education.
• Parents will bear part of the responsibility for their children's language development (and its funding).
• Decisions on examination subjects, careers and tertiary education courses will be simplified by measures such as continuous learning trajectories, lessons and lectures at further education institutions and individual educational guidance.
• Compulsory pupil monitoring systems with uniform assessment systems will be introduced in both primary and secondary education.
• Schools will timetable lessons without intervening free periods and will avoid cancelling lessons.
• The existing vigorous programme of special measures to tackle dropout will be used to reduce the number of early school leavers to a maximum of 25,000.
• The government will produce an action plan to combat functional illiteracy.

Educational attainment will rise. Young people at all levels of the system will be prepared for a more international labour market. There will be more good, professional teachers.

• Added value (learning gains) will carry more weight in the assessment of schools and institutions, and schools will be able to earn the designation 'excellent'.
• The action plan to tackle teacher shortages and improve the quality and status of the profession (Action Plan for the Teaching Profession in the Netherlands) will continue.
• There will be more scope to reward both individual and team performance.
• Action to improve the quality of teacher training will continue.
• Specialisation will be introduced in training courses for primary school teachers, giving new teachers a broad-based qualification to teach the entire primary school age range, but specialising in either senior or junior class teaching.
• Within a year, the sector will produce a system for registering teaching professionals subject to periodic compulsory in-service training.

Action is needed to boost the quality of higher professional and university education in the Netherlands. It is vital that our students be better prepared for the labour market. The Netherlands needs to be able to attract outstanding lecturers and students from abroad and to retain its own home-grown top talent. It must be possible to conduct major academic and scientific research in the Netherlands. Action is also needed to improve the translation of research results into marketable applications.

• Additional measures and extra funding are needed to ensure a vigorous boost to quality. This government will earmark funds to strengthen the primary process of education. To achieve this, parts of the budget - especially those which do not contribute to the primary process - will be scrapped or reduced.
• In return for a far better education, students themselves will also be required to invest financially in their own future. A student loan system will therefore be introduced at Master's level. Revenue from these loans will be invested in the quality of education as it becomes available.
• The government will promote collaboration on research between the business community, government and universities.
• University business start-up schemes will be encouraged.
• The recommendations of the Veerman Committee on the Future Sustainability of Dutch Higher Education will be implemented, including those on scope for selection, quality-oriented funding and incentives for academic excellence.
• The basic and supplementary grants will continue to exist for students at Bachelor level.
• To increase pass rates, students taking too long to complete their courses will be charged higher tuition fees.
• Course quotas will be eliminated within five years.
• There will be greater scope for specialisation by educational institutions, enabling them to become top players in their chosen fields.
• The efficiency of the knowledge infrastructure will be improved by cutting system costs, reducing fragmentation and promoting partnerships.

The Netherlands needs more highly skilled and professional workers to meet the demands of the 21st century. Wherever possible, the education system's focus on entrepreneurship and the labour market will be strengthened through partnerships with the business community.

• More people employed in trade and industry will work as part-time teachers.
• More attention will be paid to entrepreneurship in appropriate areas of the curriculum.
• The secondary vocational education (MBO) system will seek better alignment with the labour market and will offer no new courses for which there is no employer demand.
• Industry satisfaction will become a factor in the funding of vocational education.
• Level 1 of the MBO system (MBO-1) will be involved in the development of 'on-the-job-training schools' (establishments designed to smooth the transition from school to work of youngsters unlikely to obtain a basis qualification).
• Admission requirements will be introduced for Level 2 MBO courses (MBO-2).
• The experimental arrangement by which pupils in pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) can obtain MBO-2 qualifications without changing schools will be placed on a permanent footing and rolled out further to create greater scope for specialist vocational colleges.
• The central examining of core subjects will play a role in the selective transfer of secondary vocational education (MBO) students to higher professional education (HBO).

The freedom of education guaranteed by Article 23 of the Dutch Constitution will remain intact. Nevertheless, underperforming or failing schools will be told to get their teaching in order within a year. If they do not, they will be closed. Research has shown that Islamic schools display weaknesses in the areas of governance, educational quality, citizenship education (the rule of law) and regularity of expenditure. Research has likewise shown that schools based on radically new educational methods tend to have the same problems. Schools of these two kinds will therefore be more likely to face closure. The action schools take to encourage integration will weigh heavily in the assessment of their performance. Schools will be encouraged to introduce parenting contracts on matters like attending parents' evenings, preventing absenteeism and truanting, acceptable behaviour and speaking Dutch in school.

Culture

With regard to the arts and culture, the government will seek to enhance quality and guarantee access. The basic assumption is that a high-quality programme of cultural activities will continue to be available in every region of the country. The government intends to create greater scope for community and private initiatives and to limit government intervention. After all, the arts and culture are created by and for the community. A prior consideration in future subsidy allocation will be income-generating ability. There will be a greater focus on the earning capacity of culture.

• Spending on the arts and culture will be reduced.
• The cultural pass for secondary school pupils will be scrapped, as will the innovation and matching schemes.
• The various funding bodies will be merged and turned into a single cultural investment fund.
• The government will put forward a bill on private donations to the arts.
• Cultural institutions and individual artists will become more entrepreneurial and generate a larger proportion of their income by their own efforts.
• Through innovation, the creative industries will contribute to economic development.

The preservation and maintenance of monuments and historic buildings will remain the business of government. In this area, attention needs to focus on re-use and also on the preservation of the religious heritage. Active cultural participation will also continue to be important, especially where participation in the amateur arts and popular culture and the use of libraries is concerned. Funding for the preservation and management of the cultural heritage, libraries and the National Archives will be left intact wherever possible.

Internet

The government will promote a free and open internet.

Media

The task of the public broadcasting system is to provide a high-quality range of programmes with broad public appeal. Broadcasting associations and their members guarantee the pluralism of the system.

The efficiency, openness and manageability of the system will be preserved.

• Savings will be made in the funding of the public broadcasting system without affecting its quality. If the number of programmes is reduced as a result of these cuts, one television network will be scrapped.
• Thematic channels will be funded only out of broadcasting associations' private resources.
• Wherever possible, broadcasting associations will be amalgamated or work more closely together.
• Netherlands Public Broadcasting (NPO) will be given targets for spending cuts and will reduce bureaucracy, management and coordination activities in relation to the separate broadcasting organisations. It will allow them greater freedom and confine itself to audiovisual tasks.
• The Netherlands Broadcasting Music Centre will be abolished.
• Radio Netherlands Worldwide will concentrate on its core business, including ensuring freedom of speech, and will be funded out of the foreign affairs and development cooperation budget.
• The public will be given greater access to programming information.
• There will be greater integration of national and regional public broadcasting, for example by providing regional windows in a national network. Savings will be used to boost regional broadcasting.

For the next concession period, beginning in 2015, the government will produce proposals concerning the number of networks, the form of broadcast association membership and the membership ceiling (currently 400,000).

9. Care of the elderly

Ever more people are now living longer and enjoying good health further into old age. While this is a positive development, it does mean that the population of elderly people is growing and sooner or later they will need care. They look to their social networks and to community care services to provide it. The care system is under pressure. Costs are rising and staff shortfalls are growing. We owe it to the older generation, who made our country what it is today, to provide a comfortable old age with accessible, high-quality care. And that means drastically reducing the incidence of dehydration, malnutrition, pressure sores and round-the-clock use of incontinence pads. To achieve this, we have put together a compact, high-quality programme for elderly care. We want far more carers, more initial and further training, more patients' rights, more and better quality standards, a stronger Healthcare Inspectorate (IGZ), lower overheads, less regulation, more community care, smaller care institutions and more measures to prevent abuse of the elderly.

The elderly, chronically ill and disabled require special attention from the healthcare services. These are people who depend on care, either in their own homes or in residential institutions. Their wishes, abilities and limitations and those of their social networks should be the paramount consideration. People need care at district and neighbourhood level. The family doctor and district nursing service are the key providers. Institutions should be more human in scale. Elderly care institutions will be given greater financial leeway and will once again be able to invest in the quality of care and care staff. This will encourage them to meet high quality standards. The IGZ will clamp down on institutions which fail to do so. The rights of patients in institutions will be broadened.

• Better elderly care

The government will strive to improve the quality of elderly care. Almost 1 billion euros will be set aside for this. The standard care needs packages and associated training will become self-financing. This will give care institutions greater financial elbow room, which they can use to employ 12,000 extra staff for the routine care of our elderly and disabled. Investments will also be made in the quality of care and personnel.

• Quality of elderly care institutions

To improve the quality of institutions, efforts to establish standards and exchange best practices will be supported. Peer review will be encouraged. A quality standards institute will be set up to help care institutions in this respect. Standards applied in quality programmes of proven value, such as those relating to pressure sores and malnutrition, will be extended to the entire sector by integrating them into the IGZ quality standards. In future, standards developed in new quality programmes should likewise be integrated into the IGZ quality standards as soon as they have proved their worth.

• Patients' rights

The rights of patients will be broadened. Individual patients must be able to exercise their rights but, at the same time, there need to be guarantees that the fulfilment of individual rights will be reasonable and fair. This will be facilitated by new legislation on the rights of care service clients. In addition, there will be a specific framework act for residential care institutions setting out the concrete rights of residents, such as the right to a daily shower and to spend some time each day in the open air if they so wish.

• Healthcare Inspectorate (IGZ)

New arrangements will be made for the inspection of elderly care institutions. Management boards will be made explicitly responsible and accountable for what happens in the institutions under their responsibility. The IGZ will require less paperwork and carry out more physical inspections in the workplace. Appropriate sanctions will be imposed when irregularities are observed. In addition to its existing powers to impose fines, the IGZ will be given the power to issue legal orders where structural failures in the standard of care place clients at risk.

Where institutions perform well, it will be sufficient for the IGZ to oversee institutions' own internal quality assurance systems, which provide constant feedback on the quality of the institution. Complaints can be handled by the institution itself, for example through an external complaints committee.

The IGZ will closely monitor institutions which are performing less well or indeed poorly. It will carry out physical inspections on the ground, sometimes unannounced and perhaps using 'mystery guests'. In addition to the usual right of complaint, there will be a right to take serious complaints about personal care and staff-patient interaction directly to the IGZ. In the case of very serious complaints, the IGZ will take immediate action (and not wait for a pattern of complaints to emerge). Finally, clients whose individual rights have been violated will always have recourse to the courts.

• Community care

Homecare is facing serious problems, including declining quality, demographic aging, rising costs and personnel shortages. Community care does not express targets in terms of productivity or hours of care provided, but in terms of long-term outcomes: health benefits, solutions for the client, quality of life and personal independence. An important part of community care is coordination with other care professionals. The family doctor and the district nurse are the key links in the chain. They know what is going on and keep a close eye on the situation. Community care is more effective than the homecare system, it requires fewer hours per client per year, it is faster and it reduces the amount of unplanned care. Community care is therefore not only better, it is also cheaper.

• Smaller care institutions

The government will encourage a move towards smaller care institutions. Optimising the size of care institutions will result in greater efficiency, lower costs, more integrated care, higher client satisfaction and better care. The government will ensure that the size of care institutions is optimised and oppose the emergence of vast care organisations.

Measures to promote down-scaling will include:

• The application of special fusion criteria by the IGZ and the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZA) in advance of any possible merger investigation by the Dutch Competition Authority (NMA).
• Giving the IGZ the power to split up a care institution to improve the quality of care. This will require changes to the relevant legislation (including the Care Institutions (Quality) Act and the law on legal personality).
• Reducing overheads

The government will strive to achieve substantial reductions in health service overheads. Targets will be set for each sector. The main focus in the healthcare field should not be on management, but on those delivering patient care and services. Staff should be able to make a successful career out of the practical delivery of care. Nurses and carers should be able to concentrate on what they are trained to do without any unnecessary burden of administration. The government also intends to launch an experiment with low-regulation care institutions. To this effect, a survey of health service regulations will be conducted to identify those which can definitely be scrapped or which are of doubtful necessity. The money saved by reducing overheads will be fed back into the care institutions concerned.

• Stop elder abuse

The government will take extra measures to combat abuse of the elderly, including a compulsory certificate of good character for paid carers. In addition, guidelines will be issued on elder abuse, the Stop Elder Abuse project will continue and a duty to report elder abuse will be introduced.

Changes in the system for long-term care

• Change from service delivery funding to outcome funding for long-term care provided under the Exceptional Medical Expenses Act (AWBZ)
  The present method of input funding will be changed to one of funding by results. This will shift the main focus to patients' needs, leading to more innovation, less workplace bureaucracy (such as minute-by-minute time recording), better quality and greater efficiency.
• Placing personal budgets on a statutory footing
  Personal budgets offer clients substantial freedom to organise their care the way they want it. To guarantee this right, the present non-statutory subsidy scheme will be abolished and personal budgets will be placed on a statutory footing, taking due account of current financial frameworks.
• Separating accommodation from care
  In long-term care provided under the AWBZ, accommodation will be separated from care, giving residents greater freedom of choice. Care institutions will take more account of client preferences regarding accommodation. To compensate for the extra cost of accommodation, the present intramural personal contribution will be reduced. Residents unable to pay the extra amount will be eligible for housing benefit. Conditions for the introduction of the new system will be that the partner who remains behind should not be financially worse off than under the present system and that sufficient single rooms are available.
• Transferring day care and support to the Social Support Act
  Arrangements for day care and support can best be made locally, close to the patient. It is therefore more appropriate to cater for them under the Social Support Act (WMO), which is administered by local authorities, than under the AWBZ. The local municipality knows the people and their situation better than a huge, bureaucratic regional care administration office. Day care and support services will therefore be transferred from the AWBZ to the WMO.
• Reform of the AWBZ
  A number of reforms will take place within the AWBZ system but personal care, nursing, intramural mental health care and care of the disabled will all remain within it. At the moment, the system is run by regional care administration offices. Their tasks and the associated risks will be taken over by the health insurance companies. Patients will then have a single contact point for all their medical care. The change will also promote efficiency, since health insurance companies will monitor the efficiency of the institutions and the quality of the care they provide.

10. Public safety

Public safety is a core government responsibility. Freedom and public confidence cannot flourish in an unsafe environment or one in which people feel constantly threatened. Life in our streets, neighbourhoods and public areas needs to be made safer. An effective crack-down on threatening or anti-social behaviour, intimidation, aggression, violence and crime demands a vigorous display of authority on the part of the police and criminal justice authorities.

Anti-social behaviour, aggression, violence and crime will be tackled more directly and effectively.

• The government will produce a proposal to extend powers to stop and search.
• The government will produce a proposal for harsher penalties for violence against members of the police, fire and ambulance services and against other authorities.
• There will be more video surveillance.

Transgressive behaviour by young delinquents, operating individually or in gangs, will be tackled, for example by responding instantly, removing them from the streets, bringing them before the courts and imposing immediate penalties. Wherever possible, summary proceedings will be used (e.g. 'night courts').

• Efforts will be made to find a meaningful and effective way of dealing with this group by way of a combination of criminal penalties, street bans, community service and re-education via the home or school. Such punishment packages will be imposed, for example, in cases of vandalism, threatening behaviour and property crime, and could include payment of compensation, confiscation of property or the proceeds of crime, parental accountability and an obligation to report regularly to the local police station. In cases of non-cooperation or recidivism, overnight detention may be added to the package. The aim of this approach is resocialisation and to get young offenders back in school or work. The community safety partnerships (veiligheidshuizen) may have a role to play in this.
• The government will produce proposals for an adolescent criminal code for the 15 to 23 age group.
• Children under twelve who display delinquent or criminal behaviour will be identified as quickly as possible so that immediate action can be taken to address the problem. Their parents will be made more immediately and financially accountable. This will also be done in the case of older children.

The government will produce proposals for the introduction of minimum sentences for adults convicted twice within ten years of an offence carrying a maximum statutory sentence of twelve years or more. Courts will be able to deviate from these minimum sentences in the light of highly specific individual circumstances but will have to state their reasons for doing so. The specific circumstances will be spelled out in draft legislation, as will the minimum sentence for each offence. The minimum sentence for re-offending will be at least half of the maximum statutory prison sentence for the offence concerned.

Offenders must be dealt with in their own home environments. The community safety partnerships will have a major role to play in this. Through them, the various agencies involved can take a concerted, offender-oriented approach to combating anti-social behaviour, domestic violence and crime. This method of prevention has produced good results and will therefore be continued and developed further.

Institutions where criminal offences have been committed by calling for or inciting violence should be closed down and this will be done wherever possible, making use of the available instruments.

The ban on squatting will be actively enforced as a matter of urgency.

Security in public transport will be improved. Employers in the public transport sector will lodge criminal complaints on behalf of any employee who has become the victim of violence. The same applies in other parts of the public sector, such as schools, hospitals and the fire and ambulance services.

Tougher action will be taken to stop animal abuse by a force of 500 'animal cops'. A dedicated emergency number will be introduced for cases of animal neglect or cruelty and the animal ambulance service will be connected to it (for example, 1-1-4 'animal rescue service').

Action will be taken to combat anti-social and criminal behaviour linked to prostitution and drug trafficking.

• Coffee shops (which sell soft drugs) will become private clubs, with access limited to people over the age of majority, resident in the Netherlands and able to produce proof of membership.
• There will be a ban on locating coffee shops within 350 metres of schools.
• The minister will tighten up central government policy and will ensure that municipalities enforce the distance-from-schools criterion and other relevant parts of central government policy in their permitting procedures.
• The government will produce proposals for harsher penalties for importing or exporting drugs (or making preparations to do so) and for cultivation and trafficking; it will also modify the distinction between hard and soft drugs.
• To combat the trafficking and exploitation of women, the statutory minimum age for prostitutes will be raised to 21. Greater efforts will be made to detect and clamp down on trafficking in women. The administrative law approach (e.g. using the Public Administration (Probity Screening) Act (BIBOB)) will also be stepped up.

Serious crimes, such as violent and sexual offences, have an extremely deep and traumatic effect on victims and their immediate circle, especially if the damage is irremediable. In addition, they diminish public confidence in the legal system and affect the public's perception of safety levels. To protect society against the perpetrators, it is therefore essential to take measures to deal with them, including the imposition of adequate sentences (custodial or otherwise).

• Action will be taken to ensure that those convicted of serious violent or sexual offences remain (or are taken into) custody pending any appeal proceedings.
• When a 'cold case' is solved and new information emerges, the government will make it possible to re-open the relevant criminal proceedings using the new information to the possible detriment of the former accused (bill 32044); the same will apply in cases of manslaughter, and violent or sexual offences resulting in death. If necessary, the statute of limitations for manslaughter and certain other violent and sexual offences will be relaxed to permit this.
• The government will produce proposals to extend the statute of limitations for serious violent and sexual offences.
• The number of mentally ill offenders being placed under hospital orders (TBS) will be minimised, without losing sight of the risks to society.
• Retrenchment measures will be taken in long-stay wings, provided that this does not make them unmanageable.
• Following on from existing plans to improve cooperation between the regional mental health authorities (GGZs) and the justice system, research will now be done on the possibility of permanent surveillance of sexual offenders who have completed psychiatric treatment under a hospital order (TBS).
• The ministerial power to issue directives will be broadened and there will be retrenchment in contracts with private TBS institutions and GGZ institutions, without losing sight of the risks to society.
• The government will produce proposals to the effect that any offender subject to a TBS hospital order who absconds while on temporary leave will not be granted such leave again for at least one year, except on compelling compassionate grounds.
• If an offender fails to comply in full with an alternative sanction or other order, or to fulfil the conditions for a suspended sentence, every effort will be made to ensure that deprivation of liberty is the result.

Offenders will be dealt with more harshly and the position of victims will be strengthened.

• Victim support will be improved.
• The means will be created under criminal law to seize the assets of defendants at an early stage so that they can be used later to compensate victims and cover their legal costs.
• A ministerial directive will be issued to the Public Prosecution Service and police to the effect that people who defend themselves against attackers or burglars in their own homes or business premises should not be arrested unless the examining magistrate decides at the request of the Public Prosecution Service that they should be remanded in custody on the grounds of strong suspicions that they have deliberately taken the law into their own hands.

Speed checks will be stepped up where the safety of road users is at stake. Heavier fines will be imposed in the case of serious speeding offences.

The police will take more effective action to ensure the safety of people and animals.

• The government will increase the operational strength of the police by 3000 officers, including 500 'animal cops' to combat animal cruelty. Manpower will also be increased in the criminal investigation field and the judicial system.
• More frequent use will be made of the armed services when joint teams of police officers and members of other services are being set up.
• Police response times will be improved in both urban and rural areas.
• The government will produce guidelines or, if necessary, regulations to ensure that citizens can lodge criminal complaints quickly and easily, wherever they may be, and that they are informed promptly about the action taken in response to their complaints.
• Ticket quotas will go and will not be replaced by anything similar.
• The national and regional priorities laid down in annual police plans will take more account of local problems in districts and neighbourhoods.

A national police force will be established under the responsibility of the public safety minister, who will also bear final responsibility for its management. There will be ten police regions, based topographically on the ten district court areas. Mayors will remain responsible for public order, the deployment of police manpower for local duties, and permitting policies in their municipalities. Where there is disagreement about police deployment within a region, the mayor of the region's largest municipality will have authority to decide, after consulting the regional Chief Public Prosecutor and the regional police chief. The relevant mayors should agree procedures for this with the other mayors in their region. Where there is inter-regional disagreement about police deployment, the decision will be taken by the minister or a person he has mandated to act on his behalf. In the regions, the usual triumvirate (public prosecutor, mayor and head of police) will decide on police deployment, with the mayor having the deciding vote. The existing bill to amend the Police Act (30880) will be redrafted to enable all this.

The police service will be made organisationally more efficient and effective.

• The duration of police training will be reduced without loss of quality.
• The government will produce proposals for the amendment of the Working Hours Act and the national regulations on police working hours so that the police have more time to perform their primary duties.
• There will be cuts in bureaucracy, overheads and procedures and more scope for the police to do what they are trained to do. The result will be more officers on the beat.

The government will produce proposals for the costs of policing occasional commercial events requiring permits to be passed on to the organisers.

The dynamic system of speed limits will be expanded. The speed limit on motorways will be raised to 130 kph. Those on other roads will also be reassessed. Speed limits will be reduced if air quality, noise pollution or traffic safety so require.

As soon as drug saliva tests are reliable, they will be used to combat the use of drugs by road-users.

Vehicle recognition will be used to facilitate the prevention, investigation and prosecution of crimes and the enforcement of fiscal obligations. To this end, wide use will be made of automatic number plate recognition systems.

The government will prepare to privatise tasks relevant to the prison system, with an eye to retrenchment and cost-effectiveness. In this respect, the government will take account of the results of the 2005 and 2009 studies on the privatisation of the United Kingdom prison service.

Information security and personal data protection will be improved. 

• Wherever possible, deadlines will be set for planned measures on the storage, linking and processing of personal data and the effectiveness of such measures will be checked thoroughly at the preparatory stage.
• The government will produce proposals for all public and private-sector information society services to have a duty to report any loss, theft or abuse of personal data to a national supervising body, which will have powers to impose fines if any leakage of such data is found not to have been reported.
• Systematic action will be taken to achieve closer supervision of large-scale computerisation projects and the solution of problems with computer systems.
• The government will introduce an integrated approach to tackling cyber crime.

11. Work and social security

Reforms and cutbacks are necessary as a response to the current economic crisis and increasing budget deficits. The government will opt for measures that help to ensure that everyone contributes to society to the full extent of his or her ability. The aim is to offer everyone the prospect of work and income, to put our social services on a firmer footing and to counter the threat of staffing shortages. On the other hand, people unable to work must be guaranteed socioeconomic security. The policies of this government will help to restore employment and maintain solidarity between people in work and those living on benefits and pensions.

• The government will strive to reach agreement with the social partners on the measures necessary to emerge from the crisis.
• The government will freeze public sector pay in 2011 (except in the care sector).
• Severance payments for top earners in the public sector will be capped at €75,000.

Looming labour shortages and the increasing dynamism of the economy together require mobility and flexibility on the part of the workforce. Greater flexibility is also needed to bridge the growing divide between people in permanent employment and contract workers (staff from temping agencies, people on temporary contracts and freelancers). Freelancers make a major contribution to entrepreneurship and dynamism in the labour market.

• The government wishes to encourage the social partners to reach agreements about training and sustainable employability. Doing so will produce a better guarantee of continuing employment for workers in a dynamic labour market.
• Freelancers will be given a real chance of obtaining government contracts. A clear definition of the equivalent Dutch term will be included in all relevant legislation.
• Employment law for public officials will be aligned with general employment law. The same conditions should apply to the transfer of public officials from one post to another as for employees in the private sector.

Because of the shrinking workforce and the growing number of people over the age of 65, it is now necessary for people to work longer. This is the only way not only to keep the state old-age pension (AOW) on a firm financial footing, but also to prevent major staff shortages in areas of the public sector like education and care, as well as in the private sector.

• The state pension age will be raised to 66.
• In addition, in line with the agreement already reached between the social partners, the government will produce proposals to couple the state pension age in due course to current life expectancy, thereby making at least the required 0.7% contribution to fiscal sustainability.
• The fiscal contribution to pension accrual via the Witteveen Framework will be reduced in 2013 because of the rise in retirement age.
• Collective labour agreements will not be declared generally binding unless they contain provision for age-conscious personnel policies and sustainable employability (training).
• Contribution discounts will continue to be offered to employers who hire older unemployed people or keep on older workers.
• A robust and future-proof pension scheme requires greater expertise, stronger internal supervision, and transparent investments and pension accrual.
• It will remain attractive to continue working voluntarily beyond pensionable age.

The government wishes to enable people to strike a satisfactory balance between paid work, care responsibilities, voluntary work, training and free time. A genuine increase in labour market participation can be achieved only if there is sufficient opportunity for flexibly combining work with other activities.

• Vitality scheme. The life-course savings scheme and salary savings scheme will be merged to produce a scheme which provides support for care responsibilities, training, entrepreneurialism, demotion or part-time pension. The new scheme will not be usable for the purposes of early retirement.
• Reducing obstacles to home-working and teleworking. Stringent health and safety regulations for home-working will be eliminated. This will help parents to combine work with care responsibilities and also help combat traffic congestion.
• Limits will be set to the provision by which single parents on social assistance benefit who have children under 5 are not obliged to seek work. The exception for single parents in the Work and Social Assistance Act (WWB) will be reversed and the exemption for such parents working part-time will be increased to 120 euros.

Arrangements for children
The government will continue to help parents meet the cost of having children by providing child benefit. The main purpose of government arrangements for children (childcare provision and the means-tested child allowance) is to encourage parents to shoulder responsibility for their offspring. The government attaches great value to the existence of good, affordable childcare provision. Following disproportionate growth in government contributions to the cost of childcare, there is now a need to correct the size of the parental contribution. Parents will continue to be able to choose between organised childcare and care by childminders.

Work rather than benefits
People should not be made permanently reliant on benefits. There is a danger of people being written off too quickly and completely excluded from the workforce. A statutory non-voluntary quid pro quo based on the claimant's capacity to contribute to society will be introduced into the social assistance benefit system.

The government wishes to reform the Work and Social Assistance Act (WWB), the Incapacity Insurance (Young Disabled Persons) Act (WAJONG) and the Sheltered Employment Act (WSW) schemes and move towards a single scheme for those at the lower end of the labour market. This will enable municipalities to get more people into work, make more targeted and effective use of available resources, and cut costs. The WAJONG scheme will continue to exist for young people who are completely and permanently unable to work because of medical problems or disability. People assessed as needing sheltered employment will still have access to provision under the WSW. Those already in sheltered employment will not be reassessed and can simply continue working in their present sheltered workshops. People who are partially work disabled and have limited earning capacity will, wherever possible, be helped via wage dispensations to find work with mainstream employers. A supported work scheme will be made available for this group, with top-up payments to bring their wages up to the statutory minimum wage and individual provision such as counselling and workplace modifications. Other means to reintegrate the unemployed will be used only selectively in relation to groups in a weak position in the labour market.

Social assistance benefit for people living with a partner will stop and the assessment based on the partner's income will be replaced by one based on household income. Young people up to the age of 27 will be expected to be in work, education or work placements. Conditions and sanctions will be stepped up for under-27s applying for social assistance (Investment in Young People Act). So long as they are eligible for schooling, they will be expected to apply for student finance rather than social assistance.

• The double tax credit will be phased out of the reference minimum wage (over a period of 20 years, starting in 2012), to ensure that it does not become increasingly unattractive for people on social security to accept work.
• The amount of extra benefits that municipalities are allowed to offer to minimum income households will be capped. It is unacceptable that benefit claimants entering employment should find their income actually reduced because they lose all sorts of extras and advantages provided by the municipality.
• When investing and contracting out services, central government should take account of work placements and working and learning places for vulnerable groups, as many municipalities now do.
• There will be a crack-down on benefit fraud. Benefit fraud undermines social solidarity. Fraudsters will be required to repay all benefits they have wrongfully received, irrespective of the amount. Social security claimants found guilty of fraud will also be punished by the withdrawal of benefit for a three-month period.
• The government wishes to reduce the burden of regulation and bureaucracy in the social security system by making supervision by the Labour Inspectorate less intensive and more targeted.

12. Housing

Government policy and regulations in the housing field will provide more freedom for private sector house-building and regional differentiation.

• The government will produce proposals creating greater scope for flexible housing, temporary housing for people needing to be close to an informal carer, and multi-generational housing.
• The government will implement the recommendations of the Dekker Committee for the Fundamental Review of the Construction Sector.
• The government will produce proposals creating greater scope for specific policy in the housing field and for basing house-building on small-scale natural growth.
• The government will produce proposals providing greater freedom for tailor-made house-building solutions, so that towns and villages can meet the need of their residents to make their way up the housing ladder.
• There will be more scope for small-scale housing developments, even in the Green Heart, and also for private individuals or groups to commission house-building projects.
• Spatial planning policy will focus to a greater extent on regions with shrinking populations. Government will work hand in hand with such regions in the search to identify regenerative measures and new development opportunities.

A free housing market is important but there must be support for those who need it.
The housing associations play a role in this by helping those unable to buy their own homes and by investing in social housing. The social housing sector will focus its efforts more on those who have no alternative.

• The government will produce proposals for improving the performance of housing associations as social entrepreneurs and ensuring external supervision by a new national housing authority.
• Housing association tenants will be given the right to buy their homes at reasonable prices.
• The allocation of social housing will gradually be limited to those on low incomes.
• For households with annual incomes below €43,000, regulated rents will not rise by more than the general rate of inflation.
• Movement in the rental housing sector will be encouraged by permitting maximum rent rises of inflation + 5% for people in regulated tenancies with annual household incomes in excess of €43,000.
• Cooperation between housing associations, homecare agencies and other civil society organisations will be promoted by the elimination of regulatory hurdles.
• The 'Vogelaar levy' will be abolished.

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