News item | 30-01-2014

State Secretary for Finance Frans Weekers tendered his resignation to the King on 30 January. He announced his decision on 29 January in the House of Representatives.

After a debate on problems with benefits at the Tax and Customs Administration, the state secretary felt that he did not have enough support in parliament. Mr Weekers said that the Tax and Customs Administration was the cornerstone of public finances, a professional organisation that everyone in the Netherlands had to deal with. Its senior managers and the government members responsible for it must therefore enjoy broad support in parliament.

Mr Weekers has been State Secretary for Finance since October 2010. Finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem will take over his tasks for the time being. The minister expressed his deep regret at Mr Weekers's resignation. 'Frans Weekers was strongly committed to tackling fraud,' he said. 'And he has done so resolutely ever since he took office.'

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