Nieuws - 2 februari 2011

Dijkhuizen drops way below Balkenende-standard

It happened at long last: Aalt Dijkhuizen and the other two executive members of Wageningen UR will soon earn less than Balkenende.

This is because Jan Peter Balkenende will join Ernst & Young on April 1 where he will earn about 750 thousand euros a year, more than four times the amount he received as prime minister, reported NRC Handelsblad yesterday. It was based on his previous salary - 139 thousand euros per year - that the Balkenende-standard was derived.
If Balkenende is the standard, then Dijkhuizen's three hundred and fifty thousand euros per year is way below. Is that fair at all? Aalt is an executive chairman, while Jan-Peter will be no more than a partner at E&Y. Added to this, Aalt has completed three executive terms nicely.
The same can't be said of JP and his broken up cabinet.