The pregnancy lasted nine months but the delivery did not spark enthusiasm: the Dutch, who voted on March 17, waited until December 15 to see the birth of a government agreement. With a Rutte 4 team, whose composition will be perfectly identical to that of Rutte 3.
“There should be neither joy nor pride, but modesty”, said Sigrid Kaag, member of the center-left party D66, one of the main protagonists of this negotiation which broke all duration records and was marked by countless turnarounds, twists and turns and big blunders. Like the forgetting on the seat of a train, by one of the participants, of documents summarizing the discussions in progress. Or the leak of a note evoking the attempt to oust an important member, but too critical, of one of the parties invited to the discussions.
“All this is fine words that must be translated into action and it will be a test of truth”, declared, Wednesday morning, Gert-Jan Segers, of the small formation ChristenUnie, another component of a majority which will also bring together the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of the first Minister, Mark Rutte. As usual, this one was the most enthusiastic in touting a deal “Beautiful and solid”, which is titled “Caring for Everyone and Moving Forward”.
Carbon neutrality in 2050
Submitted Tuesday to the parliamentary groups, which approved it without difficulty even if, as the daily wrote Het Parool, they knew that this coalition was “Once again the one that nobody wanted”, the program sets out and synthesizes the priorities of all the components of this four-way majority.
The most salient point is undoubtedly the assertion that the country will respect the principle of carbon neutrality in 2050 with a climate fund endowed with 35 billion euros for investments, a project of insulation of all the dwellings, the extension natural areas – including through the purchase of agricultural land – or the introduction, from 2030, of a tax per kilometers traveled for all motorists, whether or not they have an electric vehicle.
To achieve its zero-emission goal, the coalition intends to keep the country’s only nuclear power plant in operation and acquire two new reactors. According to Jesse Klaver, leader of the environmentalist party GroenLinks, the amounts provided for this “green plan” are, in any case, already insufficient.
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