Entrepreneur and columnist Annemarie van Gaal calls for a Minister of Simplicity. According to her, the Netherlands is far too complicatedly organized and the bureaucracy must be stopped. “We are not the land of the rising sun, but of self-raising flour,” sighs Van Gaal in WNL Op Zondag on NPO 1.
Every year, 6,000 to 7,000 government officials are added to the Netherlands. Van Gaal: “We have 138,000 full-time jobs. That is 150,000 government employees. That was 20,000 or 30,000 fewer five years ago. In The Hague everything is made bigger.”
The VVD, until recently the largest party in the country, has been advocating for a smaller government for years. “If only they started it once,” says Van Gaal.
The fact that only civil servants are added stands in the way of entrepreneurship, she warns. “All those government officials come up with policy, which is then pushed towards healthcare and entrepreneurs, for example. It is simply no longer feasible for society.”
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Calculate CO2 emissions
From July 1, employers must calculate the CO2 emissions of each employee’s commute. Van Gaal: “You have to know: does someone drive a lease car, does someone drive on diesel or petrol? Does anyone use an electric bicycle? Does your employee use public transport and how many kilometers? You have to calculate it all.”
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Van Gaal recently put it to the test. “I filled it out for one employee this week. Eventually a number comes out. As an employer, the idea is that you encourage your employee to reduce that number. But you spend days filling in for all your employees. To dawn!”
If you are not in the window for 15 minutes, all data will be deleted and you will have to start over. “Typical government,” sighs Van Gaal.
Benefits scandal
According to Van Gaal, the fact that the Netherlands is organized too complicatedly is also evident from the handling of the benefits scandal. “They have been messing around for three years. It has now cost 7.2 billion euros, and another 2 billion will be added. We then spent 150,000 euros per family. Not to the family itself, but to the government apparatus.”
When dealing with the damage suffered by victims of the gas drilling in Groningen, 80 percent is spent on administrative costs. “We do everything in a strange, not meaningful way,” says Van Gaal. “Meanwhile, government civil servants will have cost 11.5 billion euros in salaries in 2022. Five years ago it was still 8.5 billion. I understand that salaries are increasing, but it is increasing proportionately much more.”
To put a stop to bureaucracy, Van Gaal wants the new cabinet to consist of people from the field, who, for example, understand the problems of SMEs. “I think: as Minister of Economic Affairs you should be someone who has been an entrepreneur himself.”
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