Groningen provincial coalition collapses after BBB breaks deal on Eemshaven wind farm

The board of the Groningen Provincial Executive collapsed on Wednesday evening after a debate about the arrival of a wind farm at Eemshaven. ChristenUnie pulled out of the coalition after coalition partner BBB and two members of Groninger Belang voted against the wind farm despite plans for it being approved in 2014.

The BBB, PvdA, ChristenUnie, and Groninger Belang’s coalition agreement last year stated that they would not allow any new wind farms, but would honor existing agreements. According to ChristenUnie, the BBB and Groninger Belang went against that agreement.

“Today, trust has been violated. We think completely differently about what a reliable government is,” said ChristenUnie faction leader Frederic Geijtenbeek to RTV Noord. ChristenUnie has three seats in the Provincial States.

The party leaders in the Provincial States will meet tonight to discuss how to proceed. The next provincial elections are in 2027, so the State Members will have to find a new way to govern the province. The expectation is that a formation leader will be appointed to investigate a new coalition. Geijtenbeek told the broadcaster on Thursday morning that a minority coalition, without the BBB’s 12 seats, is a possibility.

“A reliable government is a core value for us. There had been friction in the coalition for some time,” Geijtenbeek said. “We worked hard yesterday to ensure that there is a majority for the wind farm in Eemshaven. The province had a reliable government last night, but not thanks to the BBB and Groninger Belang.”

The Groningen Provincial Council is made up of 43 members in total, with 14 different political factions holding seats after the election in March 2023. The BBB won 12 seats, making that party the largest, and both Labor (PvdA) and GroenLinks hold 5 seats each. The left-wing parties are independent factions in Groningen, as opposed to at the national level.

It could be difficult for parties to come together and form a new coalition representing a majority of 22 seats, making a minority coalition a real possibility. If the BBB can draw in support from national coalition parties, it could form a provincial board with Groninger Belang (3), VVD (2), and PVV (2), but that would still be three seats shy of a majority. That would require support from at least two more parties.

Forming a coalition with PvdA and GroenLinks would not be easier. If they were to keep support from ChristenUnie (3), they would need the backing of four more parties to hold a majority without the BBB. Important players in the discussion would include left-wing parties SP and PvdD, centrist party D66, and center-right CDA, which each holds two seats, while Volt, Partij vóór het Noorden and Forum voor Democratie each have a seat on the Council.

GroenLnks faction leader Nadja Siersema told RTV Noord on Thursday morning that a provincial government without the BBB is “a possibility.” GroenLinks is willing to join a coalition but is reluctant to work with the BBB. “It seems very unlikely to me that we will sit in a college with the BBB because we do not want an unreliable partner. We have already seen in several dossiers that the BBB is not reliable. A decision was made ten years ago about the wind farm in Eemshaven. We now only had to see if the plan was filled correctly, but they made it completely political. They also violated coalition agreements.”

BBB faction leader Gouke Moes sees it differently. According to him, plans should not go ahead at all costs. Politicians need to make “difficult choices to restore confidence in politics” and not “only be reliable to parties like Vattenfall,” he told the broadcaster.

PvdA faction leader Pascal Roemers told RTV Noord that he had expected the coalition to fall and was only surprised that the BBB did not pull the plug itself. He did not say what his faction’s plans were.

Groniger Belang leader Eric Bakker called it “quite something” that his party is being called unreliable, defending his members’ decision to vote against the wind farm on different interpretations of the coalition agreement. He, too, did not say whether Groninger Belang would join another coalition.