Hundreds of people attended the final day of the “Rule of Law Week” on Saturday, which included an open house at the Tweede Kamer. A spokesperson for the organization spoke of “great interest” in the event, which was held for the first time.
Minister Carola Schouten can implement the law that makes the new pension system possible. A majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, supported the law. In addition to the coalition parties VVD, D66, CDA, and CrhristenUnie, the bill received support from PvdA, GroenLinks, and SGP. Schouten called it “an important” step that the Senate has also agreed to the new Pensions Act.
As expected, the grassroots farmers’ political party, BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), will become the largest party in the Eerste Kamer, the upper house of Dutch parliament. The party will almost certainly get 16 seats in total, one seat less than what was predicted.
That the farmers’ party BBB will be the biggest party in the Senate after the election on Tuesday is certain. The party will almost certainly get 17 seats. But with the help of other parties, that may be 18, according to calculations by ANP’s Election Service. The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, is elected by the 12 Provincial Councils, by electoral colleagues on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, and by a new electoral college that votes on behalf of Dutch citizens abroad. A total of 616 members will all cast their votes simultaneously at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Pension funds will get an extra year to transition to the new pension system. Minister Carola Schouten (Pensions) pushed the deadline to early 2028 under pressure from the CDA, PvdA, and GroenLinks in the Senate, De Telegraaf reports. The senators worried that 3.5 years would not be long enough for pension funds to transition to the new system. And you don’t risk chaos with people’s pensions, they argued.