Saturday

2nd Dec 2023

Dutch coalition talks collapse again

A second attempt at a four-party coalition in the Netherlands has failed, just a week after the first attempt had also unravelled.

The leaders of the pro-EU centrist D66 party and the mildly eurosceptic Christian Union announced on Tuesday (23 May) that their differences of opinion were too big for coalition talks to succeed.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The centre-right Liberals of outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte and the centre-right Christian Democrats still wanted to explore the possibility of a coalition with D66 and the Christian Union.

But coalition negotiator Edith Schippers, a Liberal, said that “political will” was lacking within D66 and the Christian Union for coalition talks to succeed.

The two party leaders sat down with Schippers for over three hours on Tuesday.

“Then we looked each other deep in the eyes, and said: 'No, this is pointless',” said Christian Union leader Gert-Jan Segers.

The impasse followed a previous attempt at a majority coalition, with the Liberals, Christian Democrats, D66, and GreenLeft.

Talks for that combination had taken two months since the elections, but collapsed last week. In particular, the differences between left-wing GreenLeft and the centre-right parties on migration, climate action, and income inequality, were said to be too big.

The elections in March resulted in a highly fragmented Dutch parliament, in which at least four parties are needed for a majority government.

But any combination would include at least two political parties with great differences of views.

D66 and the Christian Union, for example, are on opposing sides when it comes to medical-ethical issues, such as abortion and euthanasia.

The second-largest party in parliament, Geert Wilders' far-right anti-EU PVV party, is open to talks, but no other parties see any use in that, because of the great differences amongst them.

The far-left Socialist Party does not want to take part in a coalition with the Liberals, while Labour wants to lick its wounds in opposition, following its most crushing electoral defeat in history.

It is unclear which combination of parties will be explored next, and how definitively the options were dismissed.

Schippers will report back to the Dutch parliament, which will discuss the next steps next week.

An option not yet explored is a minority government.

And, while it has now been 70 days since the election, that is still nowhere near the record 222 days that were needed to form a Dutch government after elections in 1977.

EU relieved by Dutch centre-right win

EU leaders breathe sigh of relief in phone calls and tweets after Dutch centre-right comes ahead of anti-EU party in "quarterfinal" elections.

Opinion

'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU

Since last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta corporation is forcing its European users to either accept their intrusive privacy practices — or pay €156 per year to access Facebook and Instagram without tracking advertising.

Latest News

  1. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  2. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  3. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  4. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  5. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  6. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  7. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  8. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us