Despite progress in formation, informants warn of blockages | Formation 2023

“We are moving to the final phase,” said informant Elbert Dijkgraaf after he and the other informant Richard van Zwol had completed the conversations for that day on Monday evening. “The discussions are becoming sharper. You really have to make a choice now.”

That has happened at various points, Dijkgraaf said. But no decisions have been made yet. “There is only an agreement when there is an agreement on everything.” That is not yet the case. There is also no partial agreement. “There are still plenty of blockages on the table,” said Dijkgraaf.

The informants now work in a slightly different setup and have a different role. The four party leaders sit opposite each other in a circle with their seconds. “This way you can look each other in the eye,” Dijkgraaf said. Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol sit at the back and are therefore not part of the circle. The idea is that politicians should reach an agreement. “We keep quiet in the background,” says Dijkgraaf.

On Monday it was about asylum, finances, housing and agriculture. The Central Planning Bureau (CPB) has now calculated all the parties’ plans. That information is “very useful,” Van Zwol said.

“Now we know what the effects are of different variants of a measure,” Van Zwol said. He did not say which measures are involved, but variants could include, for example, the costs of the deductible. Abolishing it completely, as the PVV would like, would cost at least 3.4 billion euros per year. The other parties are talking about a reduction (BBB) ​​or no increase (VVD and NSC).

As usual, money plays an important role in cabinet formation. Government spending is increasing. If nothing changes, European budget rules will be violated. An authoritative study group therefore calculated before the elections that the next cabinet will have to find 17 billion euros to prevent this. In principle, this means cutting back or increasing taxes. ‘Not everything is possible’ is an old Hague law that still applies today.

Geert Wilders (PVV) and Caroline van der Plas (BBB) ​​were positive. “It was a good day,” Wilders said. Van der Plas: “I think we are on the right track.” They also emphasized that the race is not yet over. Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Pieter Omtzigt (NSC) did not answer questions from the waiting press at the end of the negotiations.

As usual, the informants and party leaders were somewhat cryptic about what was said inside. On Monday, PVV MP Gigi Markuszower offered a solution to this. He was photographed in the morning with a document under his arm that read “Main Line Agreement 2024-2028 of PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB”.

According to the document, which was dated last week, it showed that the four parties want to work on restoring purchasing power for middle incomes and for people who are in need. There are also plans for “the strictest admission regime for asylum”. Furthermore, topics such as “affordable housing” and “access to care” could be read.

The information was not very surprising. The parties have been making it clear for months that they are negotiating on these issues. This is the first time that literal texts from the formation table have been released.

Wilders called the fact that his party colleague Markuszower had this photographed “terrible” and “very clumsy”. He had apologized for it, he said. The PVV leader did not want to say whether it was true. Omtzigt did that earlier in the day. “I recognized the document,” he said.