The entire opposition, with the exception of the SGP, supported a motion of censure against Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a parliamentary debate about secret memos surrounding the Rutte III government's decision to abolish dividend tax, NU.nl reports.
government formation
Apr 26 '18 08:20
Apr 25 '18 09:37
Officials from the Ministry of Finance expressed serious doubts about the abolition of the dividend tax during the Rutte III government formation, according to secret memos on this topic that the government released under pressure on Tuesday, AD reports.
Apr 20 '18 10:57
During the government formation, documents were drawn up about the controversial abolition of the dividend tax - tax companies pay on profits paid out to shareholders, the Ministry of Finance confirmed to Trouw. Previously Prime Minster Mark Rutte said that the party leaders do not recall the existence of such documents, NU.nl reports.
The Ministry of Finances refuses to make the documents public, Trouw writes.
Dec 30 '17 08:20
This year Hurricane Irma, the parliamentary elections in March and the government formation that followed, a Dutch comedian mocking Donald Trump, and gay bashing in Arnhem held NL Times the most readers' attention. Here follows the top 10 most read stories on NL Times in 2017, in contrast to our picks for the top stories of the year.
Dec 30 '17 08:00
2017 was a busy year for the Netherlands, with parliamentary elections and a new government forming, a hurricane hitting three islands that form part of the Kingdom, and a number of murders that rocked the country. Here follows a summary of the biggest stories of the year.
Dec 19 '17 15:00
If the government doesn't intervene, the costs for old nuclear power plants in the Netherlands can run up to 400 million euros in the coming years, according to a report by a committee made up of officials from various ministries who looked into the nuclear industry. The officials gave this warning during the formation process of the Rutte III government, NOS reports.
Oct 26 '17 14:10
On Thursday the Ministers in the Rutte II government hand over their tasks to their successors. Some decided to mark the occasion. Former deputy prime minister and Social Affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher (PvdA), for example, posted a video on Twitter of his last day at work.
Oct 26 '17 12:12
The ministers and state secretaries of the new Dutch government, Rutte III, was sworn in by King Willem-Alexander at the Noordeinde Palace on Tuesday.
The new cabinet consists of 16 Ministers and eight State Secretaries. All ministers except Prime Minister Mark Rutte had to swear the oath set down in Dutch law. Among other things, they swear to be faithful to the King and Constitution, and promise to not let themselves be bribed. Rutte already swore this oath when his first cabinet took office in 2010.
Oct 26 '17 08:07
After the longest government formation process ever in Dutch history, the Rutte III cabinet will be presented today. At 10:30 a.m. King Willem-Alexander will swear in the 16 new ministers and 8 new state secretaries at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. At around 11:20 a.m., the new ministers will appear in front of the palace with the King, RTL Nieuws reports.
Oct 25 '17 16:50
PVV leader Geert Wilders wants to stop the appointment of Ferdinand Grapperhaus (CDA) as Minister of Justice of Security. According to Wilders, posts on Grapperhaus' personal blog show that he is "more a danger to national security than a minister of Justice", he said to ANP.
Wilders is referring to a blog post in which Grapperhaus wrote that "you should not revoke jihadists' citizenship. On the contrary, you must let them come back." He goes on to say that jihadists must return to the Netherlands so that they can be held accountable, according to the Telegraaf.
Oct 25 '17 13:30
The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, wants clarification from Prime Minister Mark Rutte about his plan to put two ministers at the head of the same ministry in the Rutte III government. In a letter on Wednesday, Senate President Ankie Broekers-Knol (VVD) wrote that appointing more than one person as head of a Ministry is against the Constitution, ANP reports.
Oct 23 '17 12:00
The names of the Rutte III cabinet's Ministers and State Secretaries were announced on Saturday. In addition to Prime Minster Mark Rutte, there wil be 15 Ministers and eight State Secretaries. Just over a third of the new government are women. The expectation is that the Rutte III cabinet will take office on October 26th, RTL Nieuws reports.
Oct 23 '17 11:20
The Rutte III government is changing the names and composition of several Dutch ministries. The cost of these name changes, which involves new logos, business cards, email addresses, websites and the like, will amount to millions of euros, according to the Telegraaf's calculations.
Oct 19 '17 09:45
Secretive and long-ongoing cabinet formations in the the Netherlands is one of the weaknesses in the country's parliamentary system, according to the preliminary conclusions of a committee investigating the Dutch political system. The committee is led by Noord-Holland's commissioner for the King Johan Remkes, NOS reports.
Oct 18 '17 08:17
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.
Oct 17 '17 16:40
Deputy Amsterdam mayor Kasja Ollongren has an exciting week ahead. Her party the D66 is looking for ministers in the Rutte III cabinet, and Commissioner of the King Johan Remkes is looking for an interim mayor for Amsterdam. And Ollongren is a favorite for both functions, sources tell Het Parool.
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. But according to environmental organization Greenpeace, while this policy is very ambitious, it is still not enough.
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. Opposition parties have Wednesday to read through the agreement, and on Thursday they wil debate in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament, the Volkskrant reports.
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. Within minutes after the brand new government agreement was released, criticism started streaming in, according to liveblogs by the Volkskrant and NU.nl on the presentation.
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