Reactions to the new government agreement have been largely positive, although questions have been asked about how feasible some of the plans are.

Marjan Minnesma, the director of climate organisation Urgenda, which took the government to court over its climate strategy, said she is ‘positive’ about the plan to spend €35bn on climate related issues.

The proposed measures included reducing Dutch carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and this, says Minnesma, is not enough. ‘If we want to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees, emissions need to come down 65% when compared with 1990.’

Nevertheless, there is enough in the agreement to give hope and ‘if the government does what it says, I don’t think we will have to go back to court in the next few years,’ she said.

GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver said the agreement had been nicely written with plenty of environmental targets. ‘But they were in the previous deal as well and they were not achieved,’ he said. ‘I have my real doubts about whether that will be the case this time.’

Klaver also condemned the decision not to reduce the use of market forces in healthcare or to increase healthcare workers’ pay. ‘Instead they are cutting €5bn,’ he said. ‘This is not a good idea.’

Lilian Ploumen, leader of the social democratic PvdA, also said the decision to cut spending on healthcare by €5bn is ‘incomprehensible’ given the Netherlands is in the middle of a pandemic.

Labour market

Tuur Elsinga, head of the FNV trade union federation, said the coalition agreement contains good news in that the new government plans to reduce the far reaching ‘flexibilisation’ of the Dutch jobs market. ‘It has finally listened to us and to the employers,’ he said.

However, the decision to increase the minimum wage by just 80 cents over a period of few years was a disappointment, when the unions had campaigned for €4, he said. In addition, he criticised the fact that the state pension will not go up in line with the minimum wage.

Employers chief Ingrid Thijssen also welcomed the new cabinet’s decision to adopt the agreement worked out by the unions and employers in June, as well as the commitment to creating a stable economic climate for industry. ‘If you run a business, you want to know where you are,’ she said.

The next step, to put the plans into practice will be more tricky, she said. ‘That is something we are not so good at doing in the Netherlands.’

Student organisations said they were pleased with the decision to bring back student grants from 2023, but say the €1bn compensation deal for students who had to borrow more since 2015 is not enough.