---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 15:25:12 +0100 GMT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Polders model "useful to other EU countries" Melkert recommends Polders model to other EU countries The economic foundations are stronger than they were 20 years ago but that does not mean that the so-called Polder model, on which Dutch labour market stability has been built, is complete. Ad Melkert, Minister for Social Affairs and Employment, says there is still work to be done. He wants a push to reduce joblessness among immigrants and some other social groups. And looking beyond the Netherlands' borders, he says European Union partners France and Germany could learn from the Dutch in reducing their unacceptably high unemployment. "Some aspects of the (Dutch) experience could be of use to them," Melkert told Reuters. Germany and France, both powerful EU economies, are struggling with unemployment way above Dutch levels. "They should offer more prospects to the unemployed. Not only for economic reasons," Melkert said, pointing to the social problems associated with being out of work. High unemployment can have a destabilising effect, he argues. German unemployment reached 12.6% of the total workforce in January. French unemployment fell last December, but at 12.2% it was still high compared with the Netherlands' 5.0% in the period November to January. The Group of Seven industrialised nations said last month that Germany, France and Italy needed further structural reforms to reduce unemployment to acceptable levels. Melkert said Germany and other European countries could make use of certain aspects of the Polder model - named after land reclaimed from the sea by the innovative Dutch. "The strengthening of the role of the social partners could be of importance to Europe," he said, referring to the close cooperation between employers, trade unions and government that is at the heart of Dutch reform. "Dutch unions have shown they have the courage to put something aside," Melkert said. JOBS/WAGE TRADE-OFF In the Netherlands, unions have accepted wage moderation as a trade-off for more jobs. The history of the Dutch Polder model goes back to 1982 when the social partners reached broad agreement on labour policy. The deal, struck in the affluent commuter town of Wassenaar, became known as the Wassenaar agreement. "The Netherlands was at a low then," said Dutch economist Jelle Visser, co-author of a recently published book about the Polder model, "A Dutch Miracle". "Nobody could have foreseen that this would be the beginning of a new era in Dutch industrial relations. It has been a learning process, an unstable process," he told Reuters. The Netherlands carried the tag "the sick nation" in 1982, with rising unemployment and a stubborn economic downturn. "The unemployment rate was some 13-14% that time," Visser said, adding the main lesson from Wassenaar was that wage moderation could bring benefits. The most striking feature of the Polder model was its ability to encourage unions, employers and government leaders to sit round one table and establish a consensus for the economy. "Despite moments of tension there was always the willingness to come up with tolerable solutions," Melkert said. The social partners still meet twice a year, in the spring and the autumn. "We know each other, speak, come to an agreement and go for it," said Kitty Roozemond of the biggest Dutch trade union federation, Federatie van Nederlandse Vakverenigingen (FNV). But she questions what will happen after the Dutch elections in May, since the outcome could result in a new coalition. Local polls on March 4 cast serious doubts on the ability of the existing three-way coalition of Labour, the right-leaning VVD and the reformist D66 to survive beyond the May 6 general election. Many voters turned away from D66. But Melkert, a member of Prime Minister Wim Kok's Labour party, is upbeat. He expects the policy mix of the social partners to continue and is already planning for the next legislative period. "The unemployed should no longer miss the boat. More investments are needed in schooling," he said. The strengthening of the role of social partners is of importance for Europe as a whole, Melkert argues, although the Polder model had been borne of a peculiarly Dutch experience. "The model is a combination of conscious choices and lived social experience," he said. Source: Wendy Braanker, (c) Reuters News Service, 25/03/98
