Government in the Netherlands: The new, old coalition

The "function elsewhere" has become a catchphrase.

It has shaken Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands and hampered the formation of a coalition for months.

Shortly after the election to the Second Chamber in March, a stupid coincidence came out: The informal sounding out about a new government was, among other things, about praising the headstrong Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt - just for a "function elsewhere", like that in one Conversation note that was accidentally made public.

Rutte denied having participated in a corresponding conversation, which was quickly refuted.

The prime minister asserted that he had not lied, just “remembered it wrongly”, a variant of his excuse “I have no active memory of that” in an earlier case - both expressions that have now also made it into joke.

Rutte's struggle for trust 

But nobody in The Hague was amused.

Rutte barely survived a motion of censure in the Second Chamber - but even his coalition partners voted for a milder form, a motion of disapproval;

only his own party, the right-wing liberal VVD, kept him going.

For a moment it seemed that the lithe rhetorician Rutte had overdone it this time.

And that, where two weeks earlier he had made the choice for VVD by a clear margin.

The paths now parted, stated the other winner, Sigrid Kaag from the left-liberal coalition party D66. But an alternative alliance to the previous four-party coalition of liberal parties, Christian Democrats and moderate Calvinists did not form. Conflicts of principle regarding content and personal animosities of various actors emerged. In the end, the quartet decided to continue their work. It broke the record it had set itself in 2017: it has never been before the formation of a coalition has taken as long as it is now.

The new ministers have been named, Rutte held one-to-one talks with the candidates this week.

Unless something unforeseen comes up, they will be sworn in by the king on Monday.

It will be the fourth Ruttes cabinet, which has been in power since 2010.

If he holds out until midsummer, he will replace Ruud Lubbers as the longest-serving post-war head of government.

Slightly to the left in terms of social policy

It is true that the decidedly left-wing parties performed poorly in the election; on the other hand, the bourgeoisie have moved somewhat to the left in socio-economic terms - under the impression of a middle class, which, according to practically universally accepted opinion, has benefited too little from the years of upswing before Corona. According to the coalition agreement, students should receive financial support again instead of accumulating debts, and children should be looked after almost free of charge. The minimum wage is to rise gradually by 7.5 percent. The prospect of 100,000 new apartments a year is in prospect - in a real estate market in which existing apartments cost a fifth more in November than a year earlier. 35 billion euros, spread over ten years, will go to a “climate and transition fund”.

After a serious affair in the social administration created displeasure among the people, Rutte promises a "new leadership culture" in administration and politics.

Half of the cabinet consists of new faces and, by the way, also half of women.

In addition, the experts from the outside who appear in the cabinet alongside classic career politicians, namely in the health and education departments.

Softer euro policy to be expected

From a German point of view, two aspects are particularly important: The government is now clearly focusing on nuclear power, wants to keep the existing Borssele nuclear power plant in operation longer than previously planned and to build two new nuclear power plants. And a softer line can be expected in Euro (pa) policy. The Christian Democratic Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra, who is reviled by highly indebted members of the euro zone because he insists on compliance with the rules, is handing over the office to Kaag.

Domestic commentators expect a conciliatory course from the longtime diplomat and short-term foreign minister.

In the coalition agreement, the partners speak on the one hand of necessary reforms aimed at sustainable debts.

On the other hand, they announce that they will “constructively” approach a “modernization” of the Stability Pact.

In the dispute over the Corona fund, Hoekstra was left out in the rain by Germany in 2020.

Now the Netherlands might itself soften its position as an advocate of budget discipline.