Breaking open the coalition agreement on nitrogen is not an option for the time being, according to the cabinet. Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) said this on Tuesday evening after a scheduled cabinet meeting. Rutte had convened the deputy prime ministers of D66, CDA and ChristenUnie in his office for an extra top meeting about, among other things, the election defeat of the coalition parties in the Provincial Council elections. In the elections two weeks ago, the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) became the largest party in all provinces.
According to Rutte, the consultations mainly discussed how the results of the recent elections have been a signal from the “worried” voter. “We talked about the question: Is politics there enough for everyone in the Netherlands?” said the prime minister. The government wants to make improvements to major dossiers, such as the earthquake damage in Groningen, the settlement of the childcare allowance scandal, and the room for farmers and for nature in the nitrogen debate.
The government will send a letter to the House about this. Next week, at the request of GroenLinks, there will be a debate with Prime Minister Rutte about the election results.
After the election defeat of the coalition, two government parties came to face each other. CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra called out in the media that he wanted adjustments to cabinet policy “on major dossiers”, D66 leader Sigrid Kaag said that she wants to uphold the agreements of the coalition agreement. BBB’s victory was expected to have major consequences for the government’s nitrogen targets. But the deadline for reducing nitrogen in 2030 was not discussed in this consultation, according to Rutte and Kaag afterwards.
With the cooperation of Philip de Witt Wijnen.