PM Jetten meeting with Deputy Prime Ministers to try and keep coalition from collapsing

At the Ministry of General Affairs in The Hague this morning, D66 Prime Minister Rob Jetten will make a final, desperate attempt to keep his Cabinet from collapsing. He is meeting with his two deputy prime ministers - VVD leader and Defense Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz and CDA Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink to see if the relationship can be saved.

Jetten hopes that the VVD will remain in the coalition. On Thursday, he spoke several times of a “serious fresh start.” Jetten wants to talk about what went wrong in their internal relations and how the cabinet can work more effectively with parliament.

The Cabinet is on the verge of collapse after parliament adopted the tax plan on Thursday against the wishes of the VVD. The liberal party is furious because the D66 and CDA made a deal with PRO and Volt to increase taxes and freeze inflation indexing to add €1 billion in revenue collected from wealthier households, while simultaneously reducing the tax burden by €900 million on middle-class and lower-class households. This amendment was added to the tax plan.

The VVD is staunchly opposed to levying additional taxes on wealth, arguing that it will drive entrepreneurs out of the Netherlands. The party is also vehemently opposed to working with left-wing PRO. The adoption of the tax plan has therefore placed the VVD in an impossible position, because it will have to be implemented by the VVD’s own Minister of Finance, Eelco Heinen.

During the debate on Thursday, CDA leader Henri Bontenbal stressed that, after months of fruitless negotiations with the opposition, time was running out to get the tax plan passed in time for the Tax Authority to implement changes by the end of the year. Not having a tax plan in place would cost the Netherlands billions. The D66 and CDA did what needed to be done to secure support. He called the PRO and Volt amendment important, but not shocking, considering that the current coalition plan aims to collect €451.4 billion in tax revenue.

The question today is what the VVD will do. Is the party angry enough to pull out of the coalition? And will that lead to another parliamentary election, or will the formation process restart with the parliamentary seats as they currently stand - as MPs called for earlier this week in case the tax plan meant the end of the minority Cabinet.

After the vote, VVD parliamentary leader Ruben Brekelmans declined to provide a substantive response. He called it “disheartening” that the D66 and CDA voted in favor of the tax plan with the left-wing amendment and said he would consult with his party members.

VVD leader Yeşilgöz wasn’t at the parliamentary debate, and NOS couldn’t reach her for a comment. On Wednesday evening, Yeşilgöz said that the coalition needs a “fundamental reset.” Brekelmans used the same phrase in parliament on Thursday. Neither elaborated on what exactly they meant by that.