Talks on forming a coalition government between the two Liberal parties, Labour and the left-wing greens GroenLinks went into their third day on Wednesday.

The NRC has a round up of the main issues the party leaders will be discussing, and highlights the big differences between them.

Main challenges
GroenLinks is the only outspoken opponent of nuclear power. The VVD wants to slash spending on aid. D66 and GroenLinks are pro Europe, while the VVD says it is ‘Euro-critical’. The VVD wants tougher limits on immigration than the other parties.
Labour wants to cut spending by €11bn over the next four years, the VVD by €20bn, D66 €15bn and GroenLinks €10bn.
Social security
All four parties want to make changes to the social security system, with D66, the VVD and GroenLinks favouring bigger changes than Labour. They all want to reform the redundancy system so it is easier for companies to cut staff. They also all want to reduce unemployment benefit to one year.
Labour is opposed to both these moves but has said it will not rule out changes to unemployment benefit.
The VVD also wants to increase the gap between benefits and minimum wages to make it more attractive to work.
Healthcare
The two Liberal parties want to give hospitals more power to set prices and form alliances and allow them to pay dividends to private capital. Labour and GroenLinks want to keep market forces in healthcare to a minimum.
The VVD wants to double the healthcare own risk element and introduce a €9 fee for a visit to the doctor. Labour wants no change to the own risk system while D66 and GroenLinks want to increase the fee but keep family doctors out of it.
Labour and GroenLinks want to make some healthcare funding income related, but the VVD is totally opposed.

Housing
The VVD profiles itself as the home owner’s protector and is against any changes to mortgage tax relief. It also wants a cut in home owners taxes. And to encourage the better off to move out of rent-controlled housing, it wants a sharp increase in rents.
Labour, D66 and GroenLinks all want to reform the tax breaks on mortgages, with GroenLinks favouring scrapping it altogether.
D66 favours setting up a wide-ranging inquiry to look at all aspects of the housing market.