After more than 170 days of negotiations, the four major coalition parties in the Netherlands have finally reached a preliminary agreement, confirming the basic governing direction. According to the released content, the new government will take a series of measures to limit immigration, including the number of international students, in order to protect the interests of the Dutch citizens.
Since the election last November, the formation of the Cabinet has been delayed and undecided. The four parties involved in the coalition – the Party for Freedom (PVV), the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the New Social Contract Party (NSC), and the Farmers’ Party (BBB) have had sharp differences on some issues, especially on hot topics like refugees and housing. During this period, there have been occasional reports of one party withdrawing from the negotiations, and three independent coordinators assisting in the coalition talks have been replaced.
At the same time, the selection of the Prime Minister has been tumultuous, as no one has been willing to take on the role. The leader of the Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, has expressed reluctance to become the Prime Minister. As of now, the choice for the new Prime Minister of the Cabinet remains undecided.
On May 16, the four major parties finally released the draft agreement for coalition governance. The new Cabinet will submit this proposal to the parliament, and Wilders will debate it in the lower house. During this period, the four parties will form ministerial and state secretary teams for each department, and elaborate on the key points of the coalition agreement. If this agreement is approved by the lower house, the new Cabinet will take office in June.
This joint agreement is divided into ten chapters, totaling 26 pages, covering key areas such as social security, asylum, immigration, and energy transition. Currently, this basic agreement is just a framework, and specific policies will still need detailed formulation. Specifically, the agreement includes the following:
– The Cabinet will increase the budget for social security. The personal contribution for healthcare over the next two years will be frozen. Starting from 2027, the healthcare deductible will be reduced by more than half, down to 165 euros. The Cabinet also aims to ease the taxpayers’ burden by introducing additional income tax brackets. Additional measures will be taken to promote the development of the labor market; improve debt assistance; gradually reduce parents’ childcare fees until they are completely waived, achieving zero daycare fees.
– The Cabinet plans to implement the strictest asylum policies in history. This includes implementing a temporary asylum crisis law, planning to abolish asylum permits indefinitely, and adjusting the temporary residency permits. Applicants whose asylum requests are rejected must be “as much as possible deported, including forced deportations.”
– Those granted asylum in the Netherlands will no longer have priority for social welfare housing; family reunification policies will be abolished, and the number of eligible family reunification individuals will be “strictly limited.” The agreement also abolishes the asylum allocation law, and applies to the European Commission to opt out of European asylum and immigration policies, strengthen border control, and introduce a dual identity system, with severe penalties for illegal labor importation.
– Study migration will be restricted. Universities will need to offer more courses solely in Dutch, limit the number of international students, and increase tuition fees for non-EU students.
In terms of integrating foreign immigrants, immigrants will be required to undergo education related to mass killings, especially to understand the extermination of other ethnic groups by Nazi Germany during World War II. Furthermore, the integration exam will become more difficult, and immigrants must meet stricter language requirements to obtain citizenship.
The new Cabinet aims to provide more land available for housing construction, such as land around cities; and expedite the construction process including approval procedures. They aim to build 100,000 new homes annually, with 30% of the new housing designated for social rent. The Cabinet also plans to restrict the rise of social housing rents. Property taxes will not see a significant increase, and the deduction of mortgage interest will remain unchanged.
The Cabinet will “adjust or even change as much as possible” the EU’s agricultural sustainability policies. One of the priorities is adjusting the nitrate emission requirements and reevaluating Natura 2,000 areas. The Cabinet states that the reason for adjusting EU policies is because “our goal is to establish a consolidated, centralized structure of nature reserves, rather than dispersed nature reserves.” The Cabinet explicitly states that the Netherlands will no longer pursue more radical nature conservation policies compared to other European countries.
The new Cabinet also states that they will not forcibly acquire or close farms, reduce the number of livestock to decrease nitrogen emissions. However, the Cabinet encourages farmers to voluntarily sell or close farms; if they continue operations, farm owners should vigorously promote innovative technologies.
The new Cabinet expresses its commitment to continue implementing existing climate policies, stating that “alternative policies will only be considered when our goals cannot be achieved.” The ten billion Euro “Climate Fund” allocated by the caretaker Cabinet will remain unchanged. The Cabinet also plans to build four large new nuclear power plants, instead of the previously envisioned two.
The Cabinet will focus more on energy independence and sustainable energy production in the Netherlands. For new homes, the installation of heat pumps will no longer be mandatory; and subsidies for electric cars will be phased out starting next year.
The Cabinet aims to strengthen primary healthcare services, including general practitioners, community care, and home care. They hope to make jobs in the healthcare industry more attractive by providing “more autonomy, professional development, and good working conditions.” Regarding education, teaching methods used in schools are required to be “effective and politically neutral”; and there will be a reduction in English-language instruction courses.
The new Cabinet hopes to establish a new electoral system for the lower house of the Dutch parliament. However, specific details are not yet clear, aiming to enhance the “regional connections between voters and elected officials.” The Cabinet also hopes to adopt a new system in the next elections, suggesting constitutional amendments to enable laws to be reviewed based on the Constitution. At the same time, the new Cabinet proposes the establishment of a Constitutional Court, which will be responsible for constitutional reviews.
The new Cabinet aims to intensify efforts to combat organized crime, such as increasing asset seizure measures, and cracking down more severely on money laundering activities. The new Cabinet will also impose harsher penalties on serious crimes including terrorism, violence, sexual offenses, and raise the maximum penalty in juvenile law. The agreement also highlights that in terms of international security, the Netherlands will continue to politically, militarily, financially, and morally support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. NATO’s standard of 2% of member countries’ GDP for defense will be legalized.