Outgoing government has three days to make 2018 budget deal

The caretaker Dutch government has not yet reached agreement on a holding budget for 2018 with just three days before the deadline, the Volkskrant said on Tuesday.

Talks on forming a new government are still ongoing and chief negotiator Gerrit Zalm told MPs on Monday that no deal will be reached before September 19, when the 2018 spending plans are due to be published.

In his briefing, Zalm said the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are still holding intensive negotiations on the financial aspects of the coalition agreement. There has been progress, Zalm said.

‘An important element relates to the financial proposals that the negotiator will present to the CPB for analysis,’ Zalm said. The new coalition’s financial planning still has to be looked at in detail by the government’s macro-economic policy unit to make sure it is properly balanced. That will take at least a week, Zalm said.

Meanwhile, there is now doubt about whether the outgoing coalition between the VVD and Labour party have reached a deal on extra pay for primary school teachers, more money for defence and maintaining spending power.

Labour leader Lodewijk Asscher has threatened not to approve the budget unless teachers get a pay rise.

According to the Volkskrant, the VVD told Asscher on Monday that the party could not approve extra money for teachers after all. The main reason for this, the paper said, is that parties involved in the coalition negotiations have not reached a deal on the finances yet.

The wishes of the incoming government have to be taken into account in the budget plans because the new cabinet will have to implement them.