“I really don’t have a euphoric feeling at all,” says CDA leader Henri Bontenbal as he steps off the stage. It is Saturday afternoon, the CDA has a conference the day after the presentation of the coalition agreement. Bontenbal is visibly tired, but receives several long applause from the 1,100 enthusiastic CDA members he addressed in the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch. He finds it visibly uncomfortable, sometimes folding his hands for a moment. The fact that he is not euphoric, he later says, is due to the difficult choices that are also included in the coalition agreement. “We are aware that the reforms have a real impact on people’s lives.”
Bontenbal is referring to the billions in cuts to health care and social security that D66, VVD and CDA propose to pay for higher defense expenditure. This immediately led to negative reactions from the opposition and in society on Friday. And that is important, because the coming minority cabinet needs support for every measure, including those difficult cuts. In his speech, Bontenbal shows himself to be humble and repeatedly says that he wants to talk to everyone and work on “a new political culture”, in which “cooperation” wins over “conflict”.
And yes, that also means that the coalition is prepared to negotiate adjustments to the cuts. “We reach out to social partners to do this with us,” says the CDA leader, “and challenge them to come up with better plans.”
Mitigating measures
But the social partners have so far shown little compliance. The interim chairman of the FNV trade union, Dick Koerselman, called the announced cuts to healthcare and benefits on Friday “unacceptable, unnecessary and unfair”. Other unions also reacted strongly, especially to the plans to halve the maximum duration of unemployment benefit to one year and to increase the state pension age more quickly. “For the first time in twenty years,” said CNV chairman Piet Fortuin, “employee rights are being dealt a blunt blow.”
I’ve actually been thinking since two days ago: yes, and what next?
The CDA knows that it will still be a struggle to get the social partners back in their favour. MP Bart van den Brink, who was Bontenbal’s second during the negotiations, says that he has mainly received critical reactions. The euphoria after concluding the agreement is quickly over for him. “You have a brief moment of relief,” he says. “But I have actually been thinking since two days ago: yes, and what next?”
The coalition agreement contains many difficult measures, such as the increase in the deductible to 460 euros, a cut in long-term care and the ‘freedom contribution’ introduced by the CDA, intended to finance additional defense expenditure: employees contribute 3.4 billion euros for this, compared to 1.7 billion euros from employers. According to Van den Brink, it is precisely the reforms that directly affect people that are the most difficult to defend. “The disability reform — there are of course many people in a vulnerable position,” he says. Yet he calls the interventions “necessary”. “The system has simply become unsustainable.”
Bontenbal said on Saturday that he “knows where the pain is”. The new coalition has also taken mitigation measures, he emphasizes. He points to the 350 million euros in compensation for the chronically ill and disabled and extra money for combating poverty. “You always have to look at the total package: where do we reform, and what do we do in return?”
Tipping moments
You will not hear most CDA members in the room complaining about the coalition agreement on Saturday. When asked further, members say that they regret that the mortgage interest deduction will remain provisional – while the CDA wanted to phase it out in the election manifesto – and that the cuts to health care and social security “are of course difficult measures”. They quickly add: “Nothing has been set in stone yet.” And: “With a minority cabinet, everything can still change.”
The loudest ovation of the afternoon sounds when Bontenbal repeats that he will remain party chairman in the House of Representatives and will therefore not join the cabinet. “This way I can continue to give the CDA color in the Chamber,” he says.
The fact that the mood in Den Bosch is jubilant is also related to the resurrection of the party. Two and a half years ago, Bontenbal was also here, in Den Bosch, as the just-announced party leader for the 2023 elections. They ended in a minor blow, the CDA only had five seats left. Now there are eighteen again and the party is co-governing again.
According to Hellendoorn chairman Jelle Beintema – who says he has been a member of the CDA for forty years – the current atmosphere is reminiscent of previous turning points in party history, such as the early 2000s. “After the murder of Fortuyn and the rise of Balkenende, there was that feeling again,” says Beintema. “We are relevant again.”
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