Donner: emergency measures must not harm the economy

11 June 2009

‘We must guard against the possibility that the short-term measures for dealing with the economic crisis do not themselves ultimately hinder recovery.’ These were the words of Minister Piet Hein Donner of Social Affairs and Employment at a meeting of Ministers of Social Affairs in Luxembourg.

According to Mr Donner, the capacity of the economy to recover is crucial as it is only then that people can be sure of long-term employment and that the socially disadvantaged can return to the labour market. Keeping unprofitable businesses going or investing in training where there are no jobs will, in time, cause extra harm to the ability of the economy to recover. By contrast, it is important not to lose employable people with much sought-after skills.
Although we are now in the process of curbing the effects of the crisis, the Minister warned that the difficulties will persist even when we are no longer in recession. Once growth has set in, there will still be damage to the employment market. This also applies to government finances and social provisions. We must do all in our power to minimise such damage, says Mr Donner, and that means that the measures taken to deal with the crisis should be closely monitored in terms of their effects, both in the short and long term. He called on the European Commission to consider this when working out the details of their Europe-wide plans.

In the meantime, the Netherlands has already taken a variety of measures designed to limit as much as possible the consequences of the crisis on the labour market. These include the introduction of reduced working hours and the option for businesses to apply for part-time unemployment benefit for their employees to avoid large-scale redundancies. Special mobility centres have also been set up to enable employees to move from one job to another as easily as possible. In addition, the Cabinet has placed extra emphasis on training (including the payment of training bonuses) and the needs of young people. These measures are entirely in line with the European Commission’s plans with regard to the labour market during the economic crisis.