THE HAGUE - Social Affairs State Secretary Henk van Hoof wants employers to receive a 4,000-euro reward if they take on someone in a "weak position" on the labour market. The Centre for Work and Income (CWI) will apply for the premiums at the European Commission.

Van Hoof wants the bonus to relate to taking on people who find it difficult to get work, even though they are reasonably educated. These are, for example, older people, immigrants, women re-entering the workforce and the partially job-disabled.

Municipalities must put forward the potential employees to the CWI. The intention is that the CWI will then in the 2007-2013 period apply for 7,500 premiums for employers from the European Social Fund (ESF).

Both the Christian democratic (CDA) and conservative (VVD) government parties and the leftwing opposition fear bureaucracy around the ESF if municipalities have to go to the CWI. But according to Van Hoof, the local authorities will actually be relieved, as they can leave the administrative red tape on the applications to the CWI. Additionally, the VVD state secretary said the CWI has better contacts with employers than local authorities.

According to Van Hoof, sharp choices have to be made, because the Netherlands is receiving less ESF funds. For the 2007-2013 period, there is a total of 740 million euros in ESF aid to distribute, compared with around 1.5 billion euros in the 2000-2006 period. The state secretary wants to push for projects that yield long-term employment. These should include investments in knowhow on the underside of the market, he said.