Universities have broadly welcomed the plans published on Tuesday by CDA and D66 as the two parties prepare the ground to form a new Dutch government.

In contrast to the outgoing government, which cut €1 billion from the higher education budget and set restrictions on the number of courses taught in foreign languages, the two parties say universities should be given the scope to “work to attract scientific top talent.”

They also plan to restore the 30% tax break for knowledge workers recruited from abroad, raise spending on research and development to 3% of GDP, in line with the Lisbon Strategy, and give “Dutch and European companies space to become world leaders”.

They called for a “strategic industry policy” focusing on sectors that are important for the Netherlands’ future growth, such as green energy, energy, water and agri-food, as well as supporting innovation in the defence industry.

The universities’ association UNL said the parties had “clearly chosen the side of knowledge and innovation,” adding: “These are important steps to keep the Netherlands prosperous, healthy and safe.”

The national students’ union LSVb welcomed the fact that the document included provisions for more student housing, but was disappointed that there was no mention of student grants or other means of support.

“Generation on mute”

“It’s not clear to us how this is really going to help the more than one million students,” LSVb chair Maaike Krom said. “Don’t put our generation on mute.”

SNBN, the lobby group for Dutch citizens abroad, said proposals to ease the restrictions on dual nationality were a “huge win”. D66 and CDA want to reform the nationality laws so that Dutch nationals who take a second passport no longer lose their citizenship after 13 years.

The construction sector said it was encouraged by the parties’ plans to deregulate the planning system by removing opportunities to appeal against decisions and simplifying the process of subdividing homes and apartments.

CDA and D66 also want to set national standards for conservation and sustainability so that builders no longer have to deal with different regulations in each municipality.

“Speeding up the appeals procedure is something we really need and we particularly appreciate the efforts to scale back regulation and local level, the planned investment in infrastructure and the solutions for the electricity network,” a spokesman for construction industry body Bouwend Nederland said.

Nitrogen emissions

Farmers’ organisation LTO said it supported the parties’ proposals to cut nitrogen compound emissions by prioritising the most sensitive Natura-2000 conservation areas and replacing the models used to calculate nitrogen pollution with new measures that reflect “the actual state of our nature”.

D66 and CDA say they will stick to the current target of bringing emissions within legal limits by 2035, with an interim target of 75% of conservation areas by 2030, even though D66 said in its manifesto it wanted to reach 100% by the earlier date.

The LTO’s stance contrasted with the more critical response by the farmers’ party BoerBurgerBeweging, which called the agreement “bad news for the countryside” and said farmers and fishers would pay the price for “unattainable and unaffordable green ambitions”.

Employers’ organisations VNO-NCW and the small and medium-sized business lobby MKB Nederland said the plans were infused with “the positive energy the Netherlands needs and rightly focus on the future earning potential of our country”.

Alarm bells

They singled out CDA and D66’s proposals to invest in sustainable businesses and innovation, as well as funding for lifelong learning and reforms to the dismissal laws and unemployment and incapacity benefits.

But the two leading Dutch trade unions, FNV and CNV, criticised the reforms to social security. “Reforms are often a euphemism in The Hague for budget cuts and eroding social rights,” the FNV, said, while the CNV said references to modernisation rang “alarm bells”.

“In practice it often means diluting workers’ rights, even though protection from dismissal and severance pay are well regulated in the Netherlands.”

The Socialist Party (SP) said it was concerned that the document paved the way for cuts to social security and healthcare to finance more spending on defence. Leader Jimmy Dijk called it a “neoliberal vision that will cause more inequality and polarisation”.