The €3.2bn in spending cuts announced in Tuesday’s budget have been a ‘big help’ to the next government, VVD leader and possible prime minister Mark Rutte told Nos tv.

Nevertheless, the three parties currently in talks on forming a new, right-wing cabinet are committed to introducing a further €18bn in cuts, Rutte said: ‘We have to get the national debt monster under control.’
But according to some newspapers on Wednesday, the VVD leader is prepared to reduce the €18bn target to €16bn and take advantage of the outgoing government’s cuts.
In the meantime, coalition talks between the VVD, Christian Democrats and anti-Islam PVV are progressing well, he said. ‘There is great trust,’ he said. ‘We want each other to succeed.’
Complexity
But Rutte said he did not want to predict when the talks would be completed because of the complexity of the measures which need to be taken.
PVV leader Geert Wilders declined to comment on the progress being made. Asked what the PVV want the coalition accord to include in terms of immigration, Wilders said his party would have to book ‘an enormous result… otherwise there is no point.’
The PVV wants a ban on non-western immigration.