ABP boss cracks pension plans Omtzigt and Wilders: ‘Back to ice age’

Although the new pension system has had the green light since May of this year, the subject was hotly debated again during these elections. During the first RTL election debate, NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt pointed out that the Dutch had no direct say.

Omtzigt would prefer to submit the new pension system to pension participants via referenda. Only if a large majority of a pension fund’s participants agree would a fund switch to the new system.

‘Time for us to implement’

ABP chairman Harmen van Wijnen is not in favor of this, to say the least. “The Senate has spoken, the House of Representatives has spoken, the social partners have spoken,” says Van Wijnen. “We’ve talked for so long, it’s time we execute.”

What is the new pension law?

Under the current pension system, the premiums of all workers come into one large pot, from which the pensions of retirees are paid. Soon, every worker will have his or her own pot, from which his or her pension will later be paid. This also means that pensions will soon be able to move more in line with economic developments. Read more about it in this article.

Van Wijnen not only thinks Omtzigt’s plan to still hold referenda among pension participants is unnecessary, he calls it ‘an exaggerated sham democracy’. After all, the new pension law is the outcome of consultation between trade unions, employers and pension funds, says Van Wijnen: “This is how the polder works in the Netherlands.”

No new pension law

The PVV’s pension plans go a lot further than those of NSC: Wilders wants to scrap the new pension law completely, and also roll back the state pension age to 65. “That would mean that we are really going back to the pension ice age,” says Van Wines.

Watch the full interview with Harmen van Wijnen below about the introduction of the new pension system and the pension plans of the PVV and NSC: