Schoof coalition again nearly collapsed during budget talks

Again, negotiations about the national budget nearly proved fatal to the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition. Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged after the over 25-hour long negotiation session that he feared collapse at multiple points. Deputy Prime Minister Eddy van Hijum (Social Affairs, NSC) threatened to resign, suspicion against the VVD increased as Finance Minister Eelco Heinen (VVD) held the parties to the budget rules, and the entire NSC coalition threatened to leave, sources from around the coalition told various Dutch media.

“I did think now and then, during the night and in the morning, that this was going to be very complicated,” Schoof said to ANP after the Cabinet finally agreed on the spring memorandum, the spring adjustment to the national budget. According to the news wire, the Prime Minister still seemed mainly relieved that things didn’t go as badly as during the budget negotiations in August. He said the massively long consultation was mostly peaceful. “That prevented enormous outbursts.”

In August, coalition sources told the Telegraaf that NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt’s “emotional outbursts” made negotiations difficult. This time, the NSC was represented by co-leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven and former Finance State Secretary Folkert Idsinga. According to the Telegraaf’s sources, they weren’t much of an improvement. There were no outbursts, but Van Vroonhoven had little experience and knowledge about what they were negotiating, and Idsinga hardly contributed, the sources complained.

Two near-collapses also came from the NSC. Social Affairs Minister Van Hijum repeatedly threatened to resign over cuts to the unemployment benefit, sources told RTL Nieuws. The coalition agreement includes cutting the duration of this benefit from 24 to 18 months, but Van Hijum was displeased with the lack of compensating measures, especially for people who can’t find a job again that quickly. According to the broadcasters, the negotiators eventually agreed on mitigating measures such as retraining.

The entire NSC also threatened to pull out of the coalition because the party wanted more money to fix problems with the disability benefit at the benefits agency UWV, party leader Van Vroonhoven confirmed on the radio program Dit is de Dag on NPO Radio 1. “We played a high-stakes game,” she said. Protecting people’s livelihoods “is really our thing,” the NSC co-leader said, and it was a hill the party was willing to die on.

The NSC eventually got 200 million euros to iron out the problems with the disability benefit. According to the Telegraaf, the parties decided to all make concessions and split the bill - 50 million euros would come from NSC plans, 50 million euros from the PVV, and 100 million euros from the VVD.

Finance Minister Eelco Heinen's insistence on sticking to the budget rules and not increasing the national debt further also caused problems. It took a while for the PVV, NSC, and BBB to accept this stance. The parties all still have mistrust toward the VVD Minister after he arranged billions of euros of extra support for Ukraine without consulting the coalition. According to the Telegraaf, the NSC and BBB in particular have many questions about whether Heinen is honestly stating how much money is available.