The Dutch Minister for Social Affairs and Employment, Wouter Koolmees, has said he is aiming to submit the bill outlining reforms of the Netherlands’ pension system to the Dutch Parliament after the summer.

The nation’s Pension Federation, the Pensioen Federatie, responded to the news by stating that it recognised that submission before the summer was “not realistic”, adding that “postponement must not be at the expense of the time for pension funds to implement the new system”.

The reforms have been delayed due to the collapse of the Dutch government, with general elections scheduled for 17 March after Mark Rutte’s government tendered its resignation amidst a scandal concerning false accusations of fraud against as many as 20,000 Dutch families by the nation’s tax authority.

The minister will shortly set up a committee to advise on the scenario sets for communication about future pensions and for entry, with this committee also considering the benefits of making calculations for 10,000 economic scenarios.

The Pension Federation has urged the minister to avoid making it necessary to use 10,000 scenarios, branding the idea a “waste of time, energy and money” and adding that it “does not produce a fundamentally different outcome”.

Koolmees also responded to a parliamentary question about the principles for funding level calculations as schemes attempt to reach the 95 per cent coverage ratio by 2026, as per the new reforms.

However, the federation has raised concerns that the calculation starting points indicated in Koolmees’ response are “too optimistic”, arguing that their use would create “wrong expectations for many participants” because the results would not be representative of some funds.

This followed a call earlier in January by the federation for clarification on details around the transitional financial assessment framework, warning that uncertainty about scheme funding rules could mean that savers could face future reductions in their pension.

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