Senior members of the Dutch cabinet are grappling with mounting pressure from a newly formed alliance of right-wing parties that could significantly impact the government’s tax plan and budget negotiations. The alliance, comprising the far-right JA21, the orthodox Protestant SGP, and the farmer-focused BBB, is coordinating its demands concerning asylum policy, nitrogen regulations, and abortion. These parties have offered to support the government’s broader tax plan if their conditions are met.
The alliance’s demands include abandoning proposed tax hikes meant to fund NATO defense spending, canceling a planned VAT increase on flowers, and raising profit exemptions for small businesses. Specific requests from the alliance’s members include changes to nitrogen policy from the BBB, stricter asylum measures from JA21, and restrictions on late-term abortions, home abortions, and surrogacy from the SGP.
Prime Minister Rob Jetten faces a challenging landscape as he seeks to secure broader parliamentary support. Opposition parties have urged the coalition to decide between aligning with left-wing groups, such as PRO and Volt, or relying more heavily on right-wing factions. Within the ruling coalition, parties are divided; D66 and CDA favor left-wing cooperation, while the VVD shows a greater willingness to work with the right.
Some of the alliance’s demands conflict with existing government positions, posing further complications. CDA asylum minister Bart van den Brink has previously stated that he cannot commit to ending the asylum seeker distribution law, which mandates municipal responsibility for housing asylum seekers. Additionally, the removal of defense-related tax measures is a sensitive topic for the CDA, and the SGP’s stances on abortion and surrogacy clash with D66’s policies.
Nitrogen policy remains a significant hurdle, as the government’s current measures are crucial for permit approvals. PRO has cautioned that significant changes could lead it to withdraw its support. The Dutch cabinet must now deliberate on whether it can accommodate the alliance’s demands without undermining its existing policies and broader parliamentary support.