Dutch Employers Fear Cost of New Govt’s Green Drive

The new Dutch cabinet’s green proposals, including higher taxes on fuel and air tickets, will hurt business and are best dealt with on a European level, the head of the country’s main employers’ group said on Wednesday.

“We are afraid of new green taxes, for example on cars, fuel and all kinds of environment taxes which are not yet specified in the programme, that will be costly for companies,” Bernard Wientjes, president of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers told Reuters in an interview.
Although the incoming government is pushing for greener measures, it has also ruled out building new nuclear power plants during its four-year mandate. The Netherlands’ sole nuclear power plant is at Borssele, which will be kept open until at least 2033.

This decision will leave companies dependent on expensive crude oil, said Wientjes.

“We are disappointed. We need, according to employers, nuclear energy, because the energy we get from oil and gas is much too much expensive,” said Wientjes.

Planet Ark