‘The starting point for negotiations’: opposition reacts critically but sees room in Jetten minority cabinet

Critical, but above all expectant. This is how the first reactions from the opposition to the coalition agreement of D66, VVD and CDA can best be summarized. GroenLinks-PvdA leader Jesse Klaver only posted a short message on BlueSky on Friday, shortly after the presentation of the agreement. In it, Klaver writes matter-of-factly that he sees the agreement as “the starting point for negotiations.” And, he says a bit menacingly: it will be “very necessary to make the plans of the minority cabinet more social and greener.”

The fact that the upcoming Jetten minority cabinet is highly dependent on support from the opposition is also evident from the words of the prime minister-designate during the presentation. Jetten wants “a collaborative cabinet” and hopes that politicians will “take responsibility together again, in the national interest.” After the introduction, the agreement even includes a separate chapter ‘Cooperation as a joint task’, in which the parties say they understand that a cabinet without a majority needs “an open attitude and the will to make compromises”.

This humble attitude is understandable, because in the House of Representatives the upcoming coalition has 66 seats and therefore always needs the support of one (GroenLinks-PvdA) or two (JA21 plus a small party) opposition parties. In the current Senate, which will remain in place until mid-2027, the situation is even more complicated: D66, VVD and CDA have only 22 of the 38 seats needed for a majority in the Senate.

Cut back on healthcare and social security

The coalition agreement includes tough cuts to health care and social security in order to pay for higher defense spending. These will have been received with grumpiness, especially at GroenLinks-PvdA. The left-wing combination was – just like the Schoof cabinet – in favor of halving the deductible, but that is actually being increased to 460 euros. Social security will be cut by 6.5 billion, including by shortening the unemployment benefit to one year, reducing the WIA for the disabled and increasing the state pension age more rapidly.

D66 leader Jetten did not want to use the word ‘cutting’ in healthcare and said that the coalition only wants to prevent “an enormous explosion in the healthcare budget”. He also emphasized that there will be extra money for the chronically ill and disabled. The fact that the new coalition wants to pursue a strict budget policy towards a deficit of only 2 percent is interpreted in the left-wing party as room for negotiation: because Europe allows the Netherlands to have a deficit of 3 percent, there may still be billions to ease the pain of the cuts.

The climate and nitrogen policy is a lot more ambitious than that of the Schoof cabinet and the cuts to education are being reversed: matters that can count on more enthusiasm from GroenLinks-PvdA. A fund of 20 billion euros to buy out farmers, among other things, will be returned; and the coalition wants additional climate measures if it turns out next year that the CO₂-goals remain out of sight. There are opportunities for GroenLinks-PvdA, because the climate ambitions are not accompanied by a lot of extra money; so it is still possible to obtain that. On the right, JA21, which has no interest in climate policy, is in favor of more investment in nuclear energy, which is not happening in this agreement.

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JA21, which did not respond on Friday afternoon but previously said it wanted to be “constructive”, is expected to support the proposed cuts in health care and social security without much difficulty. The party will also be happy that the three parties write in their agreement that they want to implement the stricter asylum laws submitted by the Schoof cabinet “in full”, while D66 and the CDA were very critical of this in the past period. For JA21, the migration policy may be even stricter and the agreement offers starting points for negotiating this, also within Europe.

PVV leader Geert Wilders criticized the agreement and spoke of the “destruction” of healthcare and social security. SP leader Jimmy Dijk sees “an attack on civilization”. The new coalition cannot count on support from the SP and the PVV. The breakaway Markuszower Group (7 seats) is willing to sit down with the minority cabinet, although Gidi Markuszower wrote in a statement on Friday that “a lot of repair work will have to be done to make it more bearable for the Netherlands.”

Medical ethical issues

The minority cabinet can turn to more parties in the center and on the right. Such as the SGP and the Christian Union, who fear an overly liberal course when it comes to medical ethics. The new coalition seems to want to take the Christian parties into account and writes that “care takes precedence over speed” and that medical-ethical issues require “a careful and respectful debate.” Both parties also had other concerns on Friday: the SGP does not want a “smoking out policy” for farmers, the Christian Union believes that the high defense bill should not be “passed on to the homeless or people who are ill for a long time.”

The new coalition does not seem to have much support from the BBB, which still has twelve seats in the Senate, because the nitrogen policy of BBB minister Wiersma is in danger of being seriously overhauled. Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Mona Keijzer (BBB) ​​told NRC on Friday that she was “really shocked” by how hard cuts are hitting citizens and companies. “We always talk to everyone, but these plans are not positive.”

The two seats from 50Plus are also interesting. Party leader Jan Struijs was constructive throughout the formation, but will not be happy with the heavy cuts in elderly care and social security. Struijs remained silent on Friday.

With the cooperation of Eline Nugteren.

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