Prime Minister Mark Rutte has responded in the House of Representatives debate to the interview of Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra in the AD, in which the CDA leader questioned the government’s goal to cut nitrogen emissions by half by 2030. In the debate, Rutte repeated what he said last Friday: that Hoekstra as CDA leader has “some room” to make such critical statements, but that the coalition agreement is intact. He called the interview “exciting” because it “scratches” on a part with the coalition agreement.
According to Rutte, Hoekstra’s statements have “naturally led to discussion in the Council of Ministers”, but the prime minister said he is convinced that the cabinet members have sufficient trust in each other. Some MPs questioned this, because Deputy Prime Minister and D66 leader Sigrid Kaag would have told Hoekstra in response to the statements in the Council of Ministers that “confidence” is gone. Kaag herself could not attend the debate, because she had become unwell in the morning and had to go to the hospital. According to Rutte, she is now “a lot better” and she is back home.
Rutte, despite being asked about this by MPs, did not want to “speculate” about the results of the process of discussion leader Johan Remkes. Remkes will speak this month with farmers’ interest groups and other sectors about how to break the deadlock in the nitrogen crisis. Rutte has “confidence” in the work of Remkes, who, according to him, should be given “clearance”.
Also read this article about the debate: CDA faction supports Hoekstra statements