As the time for the Rutte III government to take office approaches, the names of more and more Ministers are leaking out. Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) will have three Deputy Prime Ministers, one from each of the other coalition partners. They will be Kasja Ollongren (D66), Carola Schouten (ChristenUnie) and Hugo de Jonge (CDA), newspaper AD reports.
ChristenUnie
Oct 18 '17 08:17
Oct 16 '17 10:30
Hable Zijlstra will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Eric Wiebes will be the Minister of Economic Affairs in the new Dutch government, sources told the Telegraaf. In the Rutte II government, Wiebes was the State Secretary of Finance and Zijlstra was faction chairman for the VVD in parliament.
Zijlstra is taking over from Bert Koenders at Foreign Affairs, and Wiebes is succeeding Henk Kamp at Economic Affairs.
Oct 13 '17 17:10
The new government's plan to make revenge porn a separate and punishable offense, feels like a victory for Chantal from Werkendam - the Netherlands best known victim of revenge porn, her lawyer Thomas van Vugt said to Eindhovens Dagblad.
Oct 12 '17 16:50
The new coalition of VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are debating their new government agreement with the opposition parties in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, on Thursday. As far as Prime Minister Mark Rutte is concerned, the government agreement is not set in stone and the coalition is open to discussing changes with the opposition parties, NU.nl reports.
Oct 11 '17 15:50
The new Dutch government presented a very ambitious energy policy in its government agreement on Tuesday. By 2030 the Rutte III cabinet wants the Netherlands' greenhouse gas emissions to be 49 percent lower than the level it was in 1990, a higher goal than what European rules currently demand. The governments is also planning to advocate for a 55 percent reduction in emissions in Europe.
Oct 11 '17 11:50
The Rutte III cabinet plans to have two Ministers each at the ministries of Security Justice, Public Health, and Education, sources told newspaper AD. This is the first time that Ministries in the Netherlands will be headed by two ministers, according to the newspaper.
Oct 11 '17 09:03
Unions, associations and interest groups had mixed reactions to the Rutte III government's plans for the future. While some are carefully optimistic about what the Netherlands will hold in the coming years, the new government agreement left others with only concerns, according to reactions on the Volkskrant's liveblog of the agreement presentation.
Oct 11 '17 07:58
The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie presented its plans for the Netherlands for the coming years on Tuesday, 209 days after the parliamentary election In March. The Rutte III government is expected to take office in two weeks.
Oct 10 '17 16:15
Opposition parties did not hesitate to comment on the new government's plans for the Netherlands for the coming years.
Oct 10 '17 15:31
After 209 days of formation talks, the new Dutch government presented its plans for the coming years on Tuesday. Here follows some details from the agreement that were not leaked to the press before the official release.
Oct 10 '17 14:14
After the longest formation process ever in Dutch history, the new Dutch government of VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie presented their government agreement to the Tweede Kamer and released it to the public. "The coalition agreement is ambitious and balanced", Prime Minister and VVD leader Mark Rutte said at a press conference after the agreement was handed to the Tweede Kamer, the Volkskrant reports.
Oct 10 '17 13:07
Government formation mediator Gerrit Zalm is delivering the new Dutch government agreement to Tweede Kamer president Khadija Arib at around 1:00 p.m. Some time after that, the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie will present their plans to the press and parliamentarians, the Volkskrant reports.
The government agreement contains the new coalition's plans for the coming years. A summary of leaked details can be seen here.
Oct 10 '17 07:41
After 208 days of negotiations, the new Dutch government coalition of VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie can almost take office. On Monday the negotiators of the four parties presented their new government agreement to their parliamentary factions, and all four parties approved it. It will be presented to the press and the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, later today, according to RTL Nieuws.
Oct 9 '17 19:22
"Confidence in the future" is the motto of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's new government, the Rutte III cabinet, RTL Nieuws reports. The motto will be officially announced when the government agreement is presented. The expectation is that this will happen on Tuesday.
Oct 9 '17 19:14
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold will not be a Minister in the new Dutch government, he confirmed to RTL Nieuws. He is staying as D66 leader in the Tweede Kamer, because that is better for "the stability of the new coalition" and being party leader in parliament gives him a bit more room on the home front, he said.
Oct 9 '17 19:06
The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are now really very almost done with their government agreement, ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers said to NOS on Friday afternoon. But he thinks the four parties will have to meet again on Monday.
There will be no meetings over the weekend. The ChristenUnie respects the Sunday rest. "And on Saturday I have other plans", Segers said to the broadcaster.
Oct 9 '17 15:50
The new Dutch government plans to limit gender registration and work gender-neutrally as much as possible, sources confirmed to RTL Nieuws. Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution will be supplemented to specifically prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Oct 9 '17 15:10
The new Dutch government is making 170 million euros extra available for early learning disability detection in very young kids, sources told the Telegraaf.
With the extra money, the youngest toddlers, from 2.5 years, can spend more time at day care or play groups. The older kids in groups 1 and 2 will get more lessons, mostly focused on language problems. Lessons in these groups will increase from 10 hours per week to 16 hours per week.
Oct 9 '17 13:43
Nearly seven months after the parliamentary elections, the negotiators of the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are finally done with their new government agreement, formation mediator Gerrit Zalm announced on Monday. The agreement was sent to the four parties' parliamentary factions, which have the rest of Monday to read through it, ask questions and make comments, NU.nl reports.
Oct 9 '17 12:40
The new Dutch government is implementing an hourly minimum wage of between 15 and 18 euros for meal deliverers, cleaners and other freelancers or self-employed who work at a low rate, RTL Nieuws reported after getting a look at the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie's plans for freelancers.
Oct 9 '17 12:00
Unlicensed escort agencies and pimps in the Netherlands will soon face criminal prosecution, according to agreements made by the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie in their government formation talks, RTL Nieuws reports. The new government wants a harsher approach to illegal prostitution as part of the fight against human trafficking, sources confirmed to the broadcaster.
Under current Dutch law, illegal prostitution companies can get an administrative fine for working without a license. In the future they will face criminal prosecution, with prison being a possible punishment.
Oct 9 '17 11:20
The new Dutch government is planning an experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation, to see if this legal cultivation will decrease organized crime and increase the safety of cannabis in the country. In the experiment, the government will give one organization a government license to grow cannabis, which will be distributed in six to 10 municipalities, RTL Nieuws reports.
Oct 9 '17 10:16
As the new Dutch government prepares to present its government agreement, more and more of the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie's plans are leaking to the press. On Monday we've learned that the new government plans more changes to the asylum policy and is giving more money to security.
Oct 6 '17 08:49
The Rutte III government is changing the immigration policy, specifically they're limiting immigrants' access to benefits. The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are also increasing the low VAT rate from 6 percent to 9 percent, RTL Nieuws reports.
