Summary of Rutte IV cabinet plans and the first reactions

The new coalition agreement from VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie was presented on Wednesday. Based on the four key points of FHI we briefly summarize Rutte IV's most important plans. An overview of the first reactions from the field also follows.

• Sustainability
  • In order to be climate neutral by 2050, the Rutte IV cabinet is tightening the CO2 reduction target for 2030 to at least 55 percent.
  • The plans include reduction targets of 70 and 80 percent respectively for 2035 and 2040.
  • The government will deposit 35 billion euros into a new climate fund over a period of ten years.
  • The nuclear power plant in Borssele will remain open longer and two new nuclear power plants may be added. These can also be used for the production of hydrogen.
  • SMEs will have access to the Heat Fund. Rutte IV also wants to make schemes for sustainability simpler.
  • Road pricing must be introduced by 2030.
  • There will be a fund that will amount to 25 billion euros in 2035 to tackle the nitrogen problem.
• Innovation in the industry
  • Entrepreneurs with a start-up or scale-up who are involved in transitions receive more support. This concerns companies active in the fields of climate and energy, digitalization, key technologies such as AI and quantum computing, and the circular economy.
  • The Top Sector Policy will continue to exist. There will also be a new fund for research and science to further invest in knowledge and innovation. 5 billion euros will be made available for this.
• Cybersecurity
  • Rutte IV wants to invest more money for 'cyber expertise' in the police, judiciary, the Public Prosecution Service and Defense. The aim is to tackle ransomware attacks.
  • The Dutch Data Protection Authority will receive more resources.
  • There will be a separate supervisor that will oversee algorithms.
  • The National Cyber Security Center must collaborate better with the Digital Trust Center, governments, companies and scientists.
• Education and labor market
  
  • A permanent job must become the norm by making flexible work less attractive for companies. Rutte IV thus adopts the SER's advice.
  • The government is allocating 300 million euros per year for tax relief in SMEs.
  • Low and middle incomes, workers and families are promised a tax cut worth 3 billion euros.
  • There will be a higher minimum wage.
  • A basic grant in higher education will be introduced in the 2023-2024 academic year.
  • The pay gap between primary and secondary school teachers must be closed by using a collective labor agreement.

  • The government wants to stimulate the supply of labor market-relevant vocational training in technical havo and small-scale vocational education. The government also wants to maintain the widest possible range of MBO courses close to home.

First reactions:

• On average, employers respond satisfactorily. This is what MKB-Nederland and VNO-NCW say in one joint response: “The new coalition agreement lays a good foundation for the necessary sustainability and modernization of our country.”
• Building Netherlands responds looking forward to the plans: “A compliment for this is appropriate!”
• Employers' organization FME stilt that the government is “setting the right course for the Netherlands” with this coalition agreement.
• Trade union FNV responds “Today we were able to find good points in the presented coalition agreement... The question is how the new cabinet will actually develop these plans.”
• CNV speaks in turn about a “promising step towards a healthy labor market”.