Coalition agreement almost ready

If all goes according to plan, a draft coalition agreement will be ready for MPs by Tuesday next week, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday quoting parliamentary sources.


‘The last obstacles still need to be cleared. Then things can proceed quickly,’ one source told the paper.
And despite growing opposition within the CDA to an alliance with the anti-Islam PVV, most insiders think there is little chance the talks will now fail, the paper says.
‘All the cards are on the table. All policy areas have been looked at,’ another source said.
Cuts
Cuts in healthcare services are proving to be biggest obstacle and the CDA and PVV are opposed to the Liberals’ wish to almost double the insurance own risk element to €300.
The CDA, VVD Liberals and PVV have agreed to reduce government spending by a structural €18bn over the next four years.
The three parties have agreed to some €10bn in savings so far, with social security and the civil service bearing the brunt of the reforms. Defence spending will be reduced by €300m and spending on development aid cut to 0.7% of GDP.

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