Dutch coalition reaches 2027 budget deal, but tougher opposition talks lie ahead

The Dutch coalition has a 2027 budget, but the agreement is only the start of another difficult round of negotiations. After weeks of talks, a missed deadline and three postponements of the ministerial council, Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Finance Minister Eelco Heinen presented a united front on Monday evening.

The cabinet formally approved the plans at a meeting beginning at 6 p.m. The documents will now go to the Council of State for advice before their official presentation on Prinsjesdag in two weeks. The government has disclosed almost nothing about the substance of the agreement. Jetten said only that he was offering the opposition “a number of substantial concessions,” while Heinen called the deal “a very good basis” for negotiations.

“

a beautiful agreement

Those negotiations became necessary because the coalition failed to settle its own disagreements before sending the plans to the Council of State. The government had initially intended to reach an agreement with opposition parties first. Instead, the opposition was excluded from talks last week after coalition parties concluded that they were not yet fully aligned among themselves.

“

a very good basis

That reversal frustrated opposition parties, which said they felt ignored. They also argued that an internally divided cabinet could not deliver the cooperative relationship with the opposition that it had promised.

D66 and the CDA have been directly opposed to the VVD since the coalition was formed. The VVD reportedly refused to give up many of its demands and negotiated hard, prolonging the process. The missed deadline and repeated changes to the cabinet meeting schedule have contributed to a chaotic image for the government. The next stage will require the coalition to negotiate compromises with opposition parties to secure majorities.

“

We are going to have beautiful conversations with the opposition.