Prime minister says the four coalition parties must support the Cabinet during debates

The four governing coalition parties have to support the Cabinet "on the main things we do want," said Prime Minister Dick Schoof to NOS. "Otherwise, it will be quite complicated."

Schoof and the Cabinet are readying themselves for the big debates after Budget Day in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, on Wednesday and Thursday. He conceded that some parts of the Cabinet policies have space for PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB to differ in opinion.

The fact that the Cabinet still says it wants to work less closely with the government factions in the Tweede Kamer does not mean that a coalition party can turn against necessary plans, warned Schoof. "But that would, of course, also be very strange, two and a half months after we took office and three and a half months after the Coalition agreements were concluded."

Schoof thinks the Tweede Kamer debate "can be quite intense at times" but expects criticism from the opposition more than their own ranks.

The new prime minister received sharp reproaches from Geert Wilders of the PVV during his debut as prime minister in the Tweede Kamer, but he thinks it will come from a different corner in the next debate. "A large part of the opposition simply do not like this Cabinet."

Schoof said that he very much agrees with the Council of State's recommendation to look at whether there is enough staff to implement each of the Cabinet's plans. When drawing up the budget, the Prime Minister regularly had to deal with “underspending,” as it was not possible to spend money due to a lack of staff.

"We see the labor shortage coming right at us," said the prime minister. Advice and consultancy agency McKinsey calculated last summer that the shortage could increase to 1.4 million people in 2030. "We see in the care sector, education, and police that it is becoming increasingly urgent."

The shortage of workers is also affecting many of the Cabinet's ambitions. This is why Schoof wants to develop a plan with his Cabinet to handle this.

He thinks some jobs could become more efficient with innovation and reducing administrative burdens. For example, the care sector could gain a lot this way, said the prime minister.

"But we are not going to say it is all sunshine and rainbows, because the labor market is incredibly tight," said the prime minister. He also admitted that the Cabinet can sometimes hit a wall due to the labor shortage.

"But now we just say, ‘We will look to see what we can do.’ And we will no longer say what can't be done."

The prime minister said he wants to prevent the Cabinet from losing their ambition. Ironically, despite staff shortages, the government plans to limit migration and asylum. That is not necessarily contradictory, the prime minister believes.

As far as he is concerned, it is a matter of being more selective. "Where do we need labor migration for the proper functioning of our economy and our society?" he wondered out loud.

"We prefer to start with labor migration and study migration and then move on to asylum migration. For us, that comes third," interim NSC party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said. However, she does not look negatively about "faster, stricter and more basic," as the king described the new asylum policy.

"That is also allowed because we have also agreed with each other that migration is a major problem. And that we all have to put our shoulders to the wheel."

PVV leader Geert Wilders was pleased about King Willem-Alexander’s comments during his speech. "The King simply says in his speech that there must be a stricter and more sober policy with asylum seekers. I am thrilled that this is now in place and that we must now implement it together," the far-right political leader said.

"We can no longer cope with the asylum reception, we can no longer cope financially, we can no longer cope in terms of facilities," Wilders added.

VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius was also happy with the King's speech. "I recognized a lot of what we are doing."

Caroline van der Plas, leader of the BBB, has rejected claims that their policy regarding migration and asylum is inhumane. "We have always kept an eye on the people."

Still, it is essential to send a signal to "people who have absolutely no chance of asylum here but who come here anyway." Strict policies may still prevent people from coming to the Netherlands.

"That is, of course, the ultimate goal." Van der Plas added that "for the people who need shelter, who are really on the run," shelter must always be offered.