The investigators hypothesis is that in patients with permanent AF lenient rate control is not inferior to strict rate control in terms of cardiovascular mortality, morbidity, neurohormonal activation, NYHA class for heart failure, left ventricular function, left atrial size, quality of life and costs. Lenient rate control is defined as a resting heart rate <110 bpm.Strict rate control is defined as a mean resting heart rate < 80 beats per minute (bpm) and heart rate during minor exercise < 110 bpm. Patients will be seen after 1, 2, 3 months (for titration of rate control drugs) and thereafter yearly.