Timmermans’ PvdA is organizing a referendum together with GroenLinks in which members can express their views on a combined list and joint electoral programme. Timmermans leaves open the option of a comeback, but doesn’t want to enter too emphatically. “Anything I say now would disrupt that process. It is up to members of both sides to speak and then there will be a decision on what happens next.’
New elections
New parliamentary elections are scheduled for November, following the fall of the Rutte IV cabinet. The outgoing prime minister yesterday announced his departure from national politics, after thirteen years as prime minister and seventeen as leader of the VVD.
Timmermans was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs for a short time before moving to the European Commission in 2014. Since 2019, he has been responsible for the European Green Deal as Executive Vice President.