{"id":172338,"date":"2024-10-10T13:39:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T11:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172338"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:31","slug":"senate-keeps-slow-progress-penalty-in-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/10\/senate-keeps-slow-progress-penalty-in-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate keeps slow-progress penalty in place"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Senate will not block the slow-progress penalty for the time being. A motion aimed at doing so was rejected on Tuesday. However, a significant number of senators expressed concerns over the cuts to education and research.<\/p>\n

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The Binnenhof, where Parliament normally sits, is currently undergoing renovations.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cWe really only have one resource left in the Netherlands\u201d, said senator Paul van Meenen (D66) yesterday in the Senate. That resource is knowledge, he said. \u201cSo, isn\u2019t it utterly foolish to cut back on that knowledge, that science, and that research?\u201d<\/p>\n

Other opposition parties voiced similar concerns, but they found no support among the ruling parties, who seemed to accept the billion euros budget cut to education and research, as became clear during the debate.<\/p>\n

Red tape <\/h2>

\u201cWe believe that savings in education should be found by cutting back on the unnecessary administrative red tape and redundant management layers\u201d, explained BBB senator Ilona Lagas.<\/p>\n

But these cuts are not focused on that at all, argued D66 senator Paul van Meenen. \u201cThe cabinet has been quite clear about where the money will come from. In higher education, we will be cutting research jobs. We are going to drastically reduce everything that happens there. There will be fewer lecturers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagas had no response. \u201cI am an educator at heart\u201d, she merely said. In her view, it was too early to discuss education. That debate, she believed, should first take place in the House of Representatives, where the cabinet would surely come up with good ideas.<\/p>\n

Van Meenen was exasperated. \u201cI am not just making up what the cabinet is going to do\u201d, he said. \u201cNo, we know. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here today: to form an opinion on it. I find it far too easy for senator Lagas to say she has a heart for education and that everything will work out just fine with this fantastic cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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