Fourth Rutte Cabinet was politically shaky from the start

The swearing in of the fourth Cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte on January 10, 2022 marked the end of the longest and messiest Cabinet formation ever, with a deep crisis of confidence from the beginning. Although the four parties from Rutte III unexpectedly continued to work with each other and promised a new administrative culture, the second time around for the VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie was shaky from the start. Few people in political circles in The Hague expected the Cabinet to last, and after 543 days, the Cabinet has fallen because of the failed negotiations about policy towards asylum seekers.

The ministers were still 1.5 meters apart because of the coronavirus rules during their first official photo shoot. Recovery from the coronavirus crisis and restoration of confidence in the national government seemed to be the theme of this new Cabinet.

That soon changed when Russia invaded Ukraine a month after the Cabinet took office. The war in Ukraine and support for that country played a leading role in national politics, and the ruling parties were often united.

The unrest arose again when Christianne van der Wal, the minister in charge of nitrogen policy, published a “nitrogen map” in June 2022, indicating the amount of nitrogen emissions that must be reduced at every location in the Netherlands. This led to fierce protests and threats from farmers. Although VVD party elder Johan Remkes mediated the dispute, CDA leader and Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra said goodbye to the 2030 deadline to halve nitrogen emissions, much to the chagrin of many other Cabinet members. A little later, Minister of Agriculture Henk Staghouwer resigned, because he was unable to outline prospects for the farmers.

Remkes eventually recommended an agricultural agreement, but that never materialized. Last month, the negotiations on that important agreement with the sector collapsed, a major defeat for the Cabinet.

In addition to the nitrogen discussion —in which D66 and CDA squared off against each other— the summer of 2022 was dominated by the asylum crisis. People slept outside at the Ter Apel reception center, and various organizations raised the alarm about the situation of asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The VVD in particular took a hard line and demanded measures. A hard-fought agreement led to a law mandating a more even distribution of asylum seekers across the country, although some of the measures in the compromise garnered heavy criticism, including from the Council of State.

The VVD eventually agreed, but only after party leader and Prime Minister Mark Rutte promised to personally commit to reducing the number of asylum seekers.

After the provincial elections of March 2023, the CDA put things on edge again by demanding a renegotiation of the nitrogen paragraph in the coalition agreement. Those negotiations were not going to be held until after the summer, to the disbelief of the opposition.

A large part of the same opposition also asked the Cabinet to pack its bags in response to the report of the parliamentary committee of inquiry that investigated the handling of damages related to earthquakes caused by the extraction of natural gas in Groningen. The committee laid out firm conclusions about the role of the government in gas extraction over the years, including the increased extraction of gas in the last decade. They specifically pointed the finger at Rutte in their report.

Last month, the Cabinet lost a second minister. VVD Minister Dennis Wiersma of Education resigned after multiple complaints were received about his behavior. In April, his misconduct against officials had come out. The minister then promised to improve, but more reports were filed about bullying behavior a short time later.

Meanwhile, in the spring of 2023, the Cabinet seemed to be doing well: the coalition agreed on the first austerity measures in years. An agreement was also reached for climate measures worth 28 billion euros, and Minister Carola Schouten received approval for her important pension law from the two Houses of Parliament.

Things took a fresh turn for the worse in The Hague around the start of the summer break of parliament. That led to continuous talks this week to resolve the asylum dispute, but which only resulted in another crisis of confidence.