Among other things, the cabinet wants to examine the big current dossiers, such as the people of Groningen who have been duped into natural gas extraction, the handling of the surcharge scandal and the nitrogen crisis. It is not yet known exactly what improvements the cabinet wants to implement. Rutte acknowledged after the consultation that “the perfect analysis” cannot be made, but that the cabinet has an idea of the signal sent by the voter.
podcasts | The region is now on the cabinet agenda
The popularity of the BBB is seen as an expression of unease and recent reports indicate that there is regional inequality in the Netherlands. The government wonders whether the policy is there for everyone in the Netherlands and concludes that the answer to this question is insufficient. The consultation lasted nearly four hours and, according to Rutte, was a “more fundamental discussion” about society’s unease that has been going on for much longer.
The coalition agreement remains in force
The coalition deal will not be broken, according to Rutte, but the cabinet wants to see how nitrogen emissions can be reduced. The consultations were also preparatory to the parliamentary debate on the election results of April 4, requested by all the opposition. They want to know what direction the Cabinet is taking with policy now that the BBB has become a major factor in the provinces and will soon be in the Senate.
The Cabinet is expected to send a letter to the House of Representatives on Friday about the improvements they want to make to key current dossiers. According to Rutte, this is a complex issue that has long worried the cabinet, but they hope these steps will help regain voter confidence.