Negotiations With Opposition Moving Forward

Long negotiations on Tuesday did not lead to a bad scenario so far. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold was even optimistic after the last meeting which took place until midnight. On Tuesday afternoon the financial experts of the four opposition parties and the coalition met with minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Later in the afternoon Lodewijk Asscher joined the meeting together with the experts of the House on social affairs. At 10 pm the Prime Minister and the leaders of the parties also joined the discussions. According to Pechtold there are good plans prepared for which calculations now have to prove if they are really viable. Besides ‘positive feelings’ mentioned by Prime Minister Rutte and PvdA leader Samsom no real facts were revealed by the negotiators. For the coming days, during the absense of Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the borderlines of the discussions have been set. Samsom told the press that the fact that Dijsselbloem is in the US in the coming days will not lead to any delay. “There is enough work to do.”