In a letter to parliament ahead of a vote on proposals offering Dutch firms more protection from takeovers, Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp said his own proposal might conflict with European law as well as the government's desire for a favourable investment climate in the Netherlands.

Kamp's plan, which envisages a one-year grace period in which companies could refuse integrating with a foreign buyer, should be seen as "still under construction", Kamp said.

Parliament is expected to reject the Kamp plan in its current form. However, a centre-left majority is likely to adopt a more general motion asking the government to research other options to protect companies.

The political jockeying follows recent attempts by U.S. companies to buy Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel (>> AkzoNobel) and Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever (>> Unilever (NL)). Both advances were made public in the run-up to a Dutch parliamentary election in which anti-immigration and nationalist themes predominated.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Gareth Jones)

By Toby Sterling

Stocks treated in this article : AkzoNobel, Unilever (NL)