The House of Representatives of the Netherlands has given the green light, by a very narrow margin and with a clear left-leaning bias, to a package of fiscal measures that contemplates an increase in the tax burden for the highest incomes. This change, introduced through an amendment driven by the PRO and Volt parties, was agreed upon with two of the three formations that make up the minority Executive: the center-left Democrats 66 (D66) —to which the prime minister, Rob Jetten, belongs— and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), of a conservative orientation.
The decision has deepened the internal crisis within the coalition, completed by the liberal-conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the second-largest force by seats within the governing bloc. This formation has reiterated its outright rejection of the reform and voted against it, as the Dutch public broadcaster NOS has reported.
After the agreement among its partners became known, the VVD denounced that the coalition pact had been violated and refused to cooperate to move forward with the amended version of the fiscal plan. Instead of backing the text negotiated by D66 and CDA, the liberal-conservatives leaned toward building an alternative majority with the support of far-right parties that would allow the original design of the tax reform to be approved.
Faced with the blockage, D66 and CDA opted to seek additional support in Parliament to ensure the approval of the bill that sets the State’s income for the next fiscal year. Finally, they managed to secure the necessary majority by gaining the backing of Denk and the Party for the Animals (PvdD) at the last moment. In return, the PvdD obtained the introduction of a higher levy for private jets and, in addition, the two Government partners committed to withdrawing the planned increase in the price of train tickets.
A progressive-leaning reform for a conservative minister
The result is a fiscal plan with a marked left-wing character that, if the cabinet remains in its current configuration, will have to be carried out by the Minister of Finance, Eelco Heinen, a member of the liberal-conservative VVD.
This denouement has widened the fractures already existing in the coalition. "I didn't expect the CDA and the D66 to make such a pronounced shift to the left," the leader of the VVD in the House of Representatives, Ruben Brekelmans, lamented, who, without specifying whether this will mean the definitive break of the Government, has said that his party will take the night to digest what has happened.
For his part, the prime minister, Rob Jetten —who, anticipating possible turbulence, canceled the previous day his participation in the meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin (Ireland)—, has rejected the hypothesis of an immediate break and has promised that he will do "everything that is within his power" to restore the alliance. To that end, he plans to meet this Friday with the deputy prime ministers Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Bart van den Brink (CDA).