Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende warned ministers at the end of last year that the cabinet could not cope with another crisis over policy, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.

Plans to reform redundancy law had to be abandoned last year because the three government parties were sharply divided on the issue. Balkenende told ministers that another crisis could lead to the fall of the government.
And at the end of January, Balkenende had a private dinner with the two deputy prime ministers and leaders of the three government parties in parliament to discuss coalition unity, the paper says. ‘We have to look at what unites us, not what divides us,’ one guest told the paper.
The Christian Democrat, ChristenUnie and Labour coalition took office a year ago today. But sources tell the paper that the euphoria which greeted the left-of-centre cabinet has disappeared. ‘It is not a well-oiled machine,’ sources said. ‘Everything has to be debated.’