If Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66) does not allocate significant additional money for development cooperation next year, he risks once again getting bogged down in a difficult search for political support. This is what First Member of Parliament Farah Karimi (PRO) warned in the Senate during the budget discussion of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation for 2026.
The minister can hardly ignore that warning. A week and a half ago it was announced that Sjoerdsma entered into an agreement with Pro to achieve a majority for the 2026 budget. In exchange for that support, an additional 380 million will be invested in development cooperation that year. That is not a new investment, but money from later years that is brought forward.
Minister Sjoerdsma’s search for sufficient support in the House of Representatives and Senate went anything but smoothly
In August, the cabinet will start discussions for a budget for 2027. It will have to negotiate with part of the opposition, because it is only supported by a minority. Karimi makes it clear that Pro is once again committed to additional investments in development cooperation in those negotiations. The coalition party VVD is against extra money for development cooperation.
Minister Sjoerdsma’s search for sufficient support in the House of Representatives and Senate went anything but smoothly. Initially, right-wing parties supported the minister, partly because of a cut in UNRWA, the UN aid agency that supports Palestinian refugees. A few days after the vote, Sjoerdsma said he still supported the aid organization. The opposition felt misled and the minister apologized. A deal was then made with the left.
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‘Destruction by the PVV’
It was precisely about the money transfer that Pro received critical questions from a large number of senators. In the Senate, Sjoerdma’s party colleague Karimi received by far the most questions.
The budget that Minister Sjoerdsma defends was drawn up by former PVV minister Reinette Klever. He made significant cuts to development cooperation, amounting to 2.4 billion euros annually. “Nothing is being done about this demolition by the PVV,” said SP senator Bastiaan van Apeldoorn. “On balance, nothing will be added in the coming years.”
Yet the minister does not seem to have anything to fear about the 2026 budget. After the agreement was announced, 50Plus, Independent Politics Netherlands (OPNL) and BBB split-off Robert van Gasteren announced that they also support the budget. With their support, that of Pro and the coalition parties, Sjoerdsma has a majority in the senate.
Although nothing is one hundred percent certain. The PVV faction has requested a roll-call vote for next week, which is considered more unpredictable than party-by-party votes.
Seductive
Senator Madeleine van Toorenburg (CDA) was also critical of the agreements with Pro. “The trick of getting money forward,” she said, “makes it more difficult for aid organizations to commit to long-term programs.” In the future, this would create gaps in the future budget.
Will coalition party CDA vote against? Van Toorenburg left this open – although it is not expected that the faction will want to cause a cabinet crisis because of this. Also because Van Toorenburg offered a way out: she wants to know from the minister how he will gradually release more money for development cooperation in the future, as agreed in the coalition agreement.
And the CDA finds the shadow deal “tempting”, said Van Toorenburg. Due to an agreement in the coalition between VVD and D66, the cabinet could send a bill on the glorification of terrorism to the House. That bill originally came from the CDA.
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