The cabinet is urgently seeking a senate majority for its latest budget plans. The Minister of Finance must present her Spring Memorandum to the House of Representatives by 1 June at the latest. The interim adjustment of the national budget is quite drastic this time, because the cabinet has already collected approximately 20 billion euros in financial setbacks since taking office. Minister Kaag must explain in the Spring Memorandum how she wants to close that budget gap. The four coalition parties have their own ideas about this, but they have to conclave with the opposition to arrange the required majority in the Senate. And so the ministers have to go on a begging tour.
A glass of water at Wybren van Haga
Sylvana Simons is the first opposition leader to receive the prime minister and the treasury keeper in her room at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning. ‘It was a constructive conversation in which we exchanged mutual priorities’, the Bij1-MP said afterwards. Simons’ spearheads are poverty alleviation and the reduction of wealth inequality. She also believes that more money should be spent on youth care. ‘My impression is that we share that’, she says about the exchange of views with Kaag and Rutte. But what Simons does not like is the accelerated increase in the defense budget, which the cabinet is planning at the request of a large majority of the House of Representatives. “That was the biggest contradiction during the conversation.”
The contrast with the next opposition leader is stark. Immediately after their visit to the Bij1 offices, Kaag and Rutte drink a glass of water at Wybren van Haga. The government’s intention to give the army a little extra is well received by the BVNL foreman. While the coalition parties should not be with him if they want to increase taxes for entrepreneurs and wealthy individuals, as Sylvana Simons asks.
Van Haga also speaks of a ‘good conversation’ with the two-man cabinet delegation. According to him, Rutte and Kaag were very interested in his proposal to simply pump out the Groningen gas field. ‘That still contains 1,000 billion euros of natural gas.’ Van Haga claims that this can be done safely if NAM maintains the pressure in the gas field with water injections. The ex-FvD member says he has further informed his visitors that they must stop ‘evicting the best farmers in the world from their land to solve an invented, non-existent nitrogen problem’.
‘New management culture’
The chance that Rutte and Kaag are willing to close their nitrogen fund of 25 billion euros to please Van Haga, or to scrap their military investment to placate Simons, must be estimated as low. After all, Bij1 and BVNL do not have seats in the Senate. The coalition needs six more senators. Only GroenLinks (8), JA21 (7) and PvdA (6) can provide those votes on their own.
Nevertheless, the leaders of D66 and VVD are walking down all opposition parties this week, if only to show that they take everyone seriously – in the context of ‘new administrative culture’. Rutte said earlier that he is looking for ‘the broadest possible support’ for the cabinet plans and the little ones can of course help with that. On Wednesday at half past two, Kaag and Rutte are expected at a pitcher Caroline van der Plas (BBB). Pieter Omtzigt ‘is still considering’ whether he will accept Kaag’s invitation, because ‘I prefer to start the discussion publicly in the House’.
Negotiate with one mouth
Simons and Van Haga are the only ones who already have their turn on Monday. Kaag and Rutte have the most conversations on Wednesdays. They will then speak to Lilian Marijnissen (SP), Joost Eerdmans (JA21) and Thierry Baudet (FvD), among others. SGP party chairman Kees van der Staaij will receive the cabinet duo on Thursday morning. The most important appointment is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at one o’clock: then Kaag and Rutte will sit with the PvdA to go through the wish list of Attje Kuiken and Jesse Klaver. PvdA and GroenLinks speak with one voice during the negotiations.
Chick added WNL on Sunday a first negotiation requirement on the table. PvdA and GroenLinks want to increase the statutory minimum wage to at least 14 euros per hour. Kuiken also already knows how she and Klaver want to close the billion-dollar deficit in the budget: wealthy Dutch people have to pay more tax in Box 2 and Box 3.