Ministers, unions and employers have reached agreement on reforming the pension system, paving the way for a rise in the pension age to 67 and linking corporate pension payouts to share prices.

The deal was signed on Friday morning, despite the objections of general workers’ union FNV Bondgenoten, which says the deal does not offer enough guarantees on payouts.
Prime minister Mark Rutte told a news conference the agreement is ‘unique’. Describing it as a deal involving hundreds of billions of euros, Rutte said the reforms are the biggest shake up in the sector since World War II. ‘This is of the greatest importance to everyone,’ he said.
FNV chairwoman Agnes Jongerius, who has been negotiating the deal for a year, said she recognised the final agreement is not perfect. ‘We always want more,’ she told reporters.
Reject recommendation
Bondgenoten, which represents 500,000 of the FNV’s 1.4 million members, said it would recommend its members reject the deal. Civil service union Abvakabo and construction workers union Bouw also have doubts about the deal, according to the Financieele Dagblad.
White collar union de Unie is also unsure whether to recommend the agreement.
In particular, unions are concerned that employers will not fill any corporate pension funding gaps if there is another stock market crisis. Instead, pensions will go up and down with stock exchange movements, although changes will be spread out over several years.
They also say the 0.6% plus inflation increase in the state pension is being paid for by scrapping other pension-related benefits and tax breaks.
Supporters of the deal say it allows negotiations at a sector level, so unions and employers can determine the balance between risk and security in sector-wide pay and conditions deals.