21 December 2023
Netherlands | Immigration | General election—Coalition talks enter next phase
Impact: Medium
Summary
Last week the initial discovery phase of the formation (in Dutch: verkenning) was completed, following the Dutch general election where Geert Wilders’ PVV emerged as the largest party. Presenting his findings to the newly elected House of Representatives, verkenner Ronald Plasterk advised the PVV, NSC, VVD and BBB parties to work together in a next phase towards forming a coalition. Having been verkenner, Ronald Plasterk has now also been nominated as informateur, where he will mediate talks between the 4 parties. These talks are expected to last until mid-February 2024.
The Detail
On 11 December 2023, the Dutch formation investigator, Ronald Plasterk, published his findings, following a consultation with all parties elected to the Dutch House of Representatives. In his report, Mr. Plasterk found that PVV, NSC, VVD and BBB would be most likely to be able to form a coalition with working majorities in both chambers of the Dutch parliament. These findings were debated in the House of Representatives on 13 December and, subsequently, a majority voted to approve the proposal to have PVV, NSC, VVD and BBB enter the next phase of negotiations. See our previous alert on the outcome of the Dutch general election for more information on the main parties and election results.
What will happen next?
When assenting to the proposed approach following the verkenning, the House of Representatives also approved the nomination of Ronald Plasterk as informateur. This means that Mr. Plasterk will mediate the next informing phase of the coalition talks between the four main parties.
This phase of the talks are anticipated to last until mid-February 2024, after which Mr. Plasterk will issue a new report. It is expected that talks will follow the general outline as specified in the verkenning report, which essentially covers two areas. Firstly, talks will initially cover the safeguarding of the Dutch Constitution, the Dutch fundamental rights, and the constitutional state of democracy. These points were raised by Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the NSC, who has expressed reservations about PVV’s commitment to upholding the Dutch Constitution in light of their stance on issues such as migration, religion and EU membership. Secondly, talks will focus on areas of agreement between the 4 parties on key issues from the manifestos of the main parties. The main topics include:
Depending on the outcome of the informing phase of the negotiations, it is possible that subsequent talks will take place to form a government. In the meantime the talks between the 4 parties and Mr. Plasterk will take place behind closed doors.
What does this mean for employers?
Until a new coalition has been formed, with agreed common policies in the areas mentioned above, no significant changes are expected in respect of corporate immigration legislation or policy. However, with the new members of the House of Representatives having been sworn in, it is possible that a new majority of PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB will already vote differently on certain issues than intended by Mark Rutte’s outgoing cabinet.
Contact us
Vialto will continue to monitor developments and the possible impact for businesses and employees. For further details on the above, please reach out to your usual Vialto Partners contact or alternatively contact:
Hugo Vijge
Director
hugo.vijge@vialto.com
Nini Braken-Zheng
Senior Associate Advisory
nini.braken-zheng@vialto.com
Marijan Vrhovac
Senior Associate
marijan.vrhovac@vialto.com
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com