MPs want Covid support for more startups

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, called on the cabinet to make more startups eligible for coronavirus support. Despite the support for new businesses the government announced last week, thousands of companies are still falling through the cracks, according to the parliamentarians, NOS reports.

With extra measures against the coronavirus implemented, the government also extended its support packages for businesses and announced that a special arrangement will be made for new companies that opened between January 1 and June 30 last year. As most of the support measures are based on turnover loss, companies that hadn't made a turnover before the pandemic hit didn't qualify.

But various political parties want the government to extend the support to also include companies that opened late in 2019. "It is good that there is support for startups, but let's not forget abut the entrepreneurs who started at the end of 2019," VVD parliamentarian Thierry Aartsen said to the broadcaster. They too didn't have much time to start making money before the pandemic hit.

There is a solid chance that the government will agree to this demand, according to NOS.