Dutch minister expects quick progress on disability benefit reform

Dutch social affairs minister Hans Vijlbrief says he expects quick progress on reforming the WIA disability benefit, after talks between the government, trade unions and employers’ groups at the Social and Economic Council (SER) on Monday.

The meeting concerned a possible social agreement and followed an earlier discussion at the Catshuis in early October. Trade unions had agreed to resume talks on the future of social security after the minority government dropped planned spending cuts, ANP reported.

Vijlbrief said he was confident the parties could reach an outcome and that his focus was on reform rather than budget figures. “I’m really not focused on the money. I want to talk about reforms,” he said, according to ANP.