Dutch parliament may not approve eurozone reforms

Instead, it is going to take the support of the Labour Party (PvdA) to tip the balance.

But Labour MP in turn are “not at all convinced that the cabinet will come home with a credible reform package”, Ronald Plasterk, the party’s finance spokesman, said.

He sketched out the kind of reform package his party would be willing to vote for, including a significant contribution to debt reduction by banks and other bondholders and a strong budget commissioner - although this was criticized for being too vague.

“We’ll keep our thoughts to ourselves,” Plasterk said. “We’ll have a good look at the proposals after the summit and make up our mind next week.” He said his party would oppose the reforms if they turned out to be less than acceptable, but refused to give concrete margins.

Rutte, for his part, refused again to elaborate on the government’s objectives for fear of complicating the negotiation process. He used the same argument ahead of a eurozone summit on Sunday (23 October).

“I cannot give you any details,” he said. “I understand your exasperation, but I ask for your understanding.”

Arie Slob, leader of the opposition Christian Union, reminded Rutte of the dangers of his reticence. “You run a minority government here. If you don’t find a majority on this, you’ll have a very big problem.”