The upper house of parliament, or senate, has urged the new government to change some aspects of the coalition agreement – in particular the decision to stop linking the state pension to changes in the minimum wage.

The new government is planning to stop increasing the two payments by the same percentage, because it has pledged to increase the minimum wage by 7.5% in the coming few years.

Increasing the state pension by the same amount would cost up to €2.9bn a year, prime minister Mark Rutte told senators during the debate.

Senators also want the government to drop plans to cut spending on youth social services and to improve their compensation offer to students who did not have the option of a student grant.

The new cabinet, made up of the VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie, does not have a majority in the upper house and will require support of opposition parties to get controversial legislation through parliament.