Business is alarming the House of Representatives about the business environment. Employers’ organizations VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland say this is exacerbated in part because the quality of our education has deteriorated, but also because nitrogen policy still creates a lot of uncertainty.
MEPs received a letter from two employers’ organizations in which they spoke of “concrete decay” in key parts of the business environment. According to them, the Netherlands still tops the business climate lists for companies, but this will be based on previous results; The future looked less rosy.
Employers told lawmakers, “Think, for example, of PISA results that say something about the quality of the future workforce, falling in reading and arithmetic.” There are also indications that investments in the Netherlands are significantly less profitable than in the rest of Europe, and even more so in the US, according to employers’ associations.
bad investments
This does not help attract investors. According to VNO and MKB-Nederland, things could only get worse for the Netherlands if the US also gives billions to sustainable companies, as President Biden wanted. “Or think about how our country has floundered because of the massive housing shortage and, among other things, nitrogen that has cost us billions of dollars in sustainable investments over the past three years, mostly in sustainable investments.”
Due to the uncertain nitrogen policy, companies do not know whether they can build or invest. Employers write: “The continuing lack of clarity on development areas for nitrogen is a barrier to investment.” VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland have recently advocated accelerating the acquisition of top loaders as it creates space for entrepreneurs. In the letter, employers also call for stable policies and want the tax system not to lead to negative competition.
Parliament also sees
Tomorrow the House of Representatives will discuss the business environment. This is a topic that has come back purely to the political agenda with the debate about the Responsible and Sustainable Business Act and Boskalis’ imminent threat of exit.
Several MEPs want to point out in tomorrow’s debate that the ambiguous nitrogen policy is an obstacle to economic growth. Like employers, most of the Assembly sees the business environment under pressure.
“Basically, the business climate is good, but there are fine cracks here and there on that basis,” says CDA’s Mustafa Amhaouch. The Netherlands wants the manufacturing industry to be improved and the government to have a more proactive industrial policy regarding different regions. According to VVD MP Pim van Strien, we are at a turning point: “We are still at the top, but the business environment is under pressure.”
economic stop
It is important that D66 accelerates the implementation of nitrogen plans. This means, among other things, measures that can create space for construction and farming in the agricultural sector. “For example, foreign parties that had to decide on a factory in the Netherlands or another country are now in financial trouble,” says MP Romke de Jong.
According to Derk Jan Eppink of JA21, the regulatory burden in the Netherlands is very high. “We see that the nitrogen law hinders the Netherlands.” According to this party, education should also be better adapted to the labor market and the tax burden should be reduced.
“There is still a good business climate in the Netherlands,” says Barbara Kathmann, MP for PvdA. “However, this cabinet’s failure to address issues is of great concern: businesses are unable to obtain nitrogen permits or are not connected to the grid, workers cannot find homes, education grades are declining, and public transport is curtailed if we want to sustain a situation. attractive work environment.”
At the end of last year, the government also acknowledged that the business environment is under pressure. Minister Adriaansens (Economic Affairs) therefore wants, among other things, to ensure that the Netherlands no longer interprets certain European rules more strictly than other countries.
Source: NOS
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
