 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2022) |
| Part of the Politics series |
 |
|---|
 Politicsportal |
The cabinet of the Netherlands (Dutch : Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Schoof cabinet, [1] which has been in power since 2 July 2024. It is headed by Prime Minister Dick Schoof. [2]
The cabinet consists of the ministers and state secretaries. The cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are between twelve and sixteen Ministers, most of whom are also heads of specific government ministries, although there are often some ministers without portfolio who have areas of responsibility inside one or more ministries. For instance there has for some time been a minister for development cooperation, who works within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most ministries also have a state secretary who is responsible for part of the relevant portfolio. State secretaries (such as that of Trade and Development Cooperation) are given the right to call themselves "Minister" in other countries and be treated as such for protocolary purposes, while not having any of the domestic rights given specifically to Ministers. Most significantly, state secretaries are not members of the Council of Ministers.
The policy of a cabinet is coordinated by the Council of Ministers, in which all ministers, including ministers without portfolio, take part. The Council initiates laws and policy. State secretaries do not attend the Council of Ministers unless invited, and even then they have no voting rights in the Council. The Council meets every Friday in the Trêveszaal (the Room of Treaties) in the Binnenhof. Meetings are chaired by the Prime Minister, or an acting prime minister if necessary. The Council makes decisions in a collegial manner; all ministers, including the Prime Minister, are (theoretically) equal. Behind the closed doors of the Trêveszaal, ministers can freely debate proposed decisions and express their opinion on any aspect of cabinet policy. Once a decision is made by the Council, all individual members are bound by it and are obliged to support it publicly. A member of Cabinet who is not prepared to publicly support a decision of the Council is obliged to step down. Typically, a good deal of effort is put into reaching relative consensus on any decision. A process of voting within the Council does exist, but is hardly ever used.
Together with the King, the Council of Ministers forms the Government, which makes all the major decisions. In practice, the King does not participate in the daily decision-making of government, although he is kept up to date by weekly meetings with the Prime Minister. The Dutch constitution does not speak of cabinet, but instead only of the Council of Ministers and Government.
The ministers, individually and collectively (as cabinet), are responsible to the States-General for government policy and must enjoy its confidence. It is not possible for a minister to be a member of parliament. Ministers or state secretaries who are no longer supported by a parliamentary majority are also expected by convention to step down. In contrast to the Westminster system, Dutch ministers may not simultaneously also be members of the States-General, although members of the States-General can be appointed as ministers, whereupon their seats become vacant.
An important question is whether the relationship between the cabinet and parliament should be dualistic or monistic. That is, whether ministers and leaders of governing parliamentary parties should prepare important political decisions. According to the dualistic position, members of parliament of governing parties should function independently of the Cabinet. The monistic position, by contrast, is that the Cabinet plays an important role in proposing legislation and policy.
The Council of Ministers typically meets at least once a week and is presided by the Prime Minister. [3]
After a general election held generally every four years, or if a cabinet resigns during a parliamentary term, the process of cabinet formation starts. Because of the multi-party system of the Netherlands, no single party has had a majority in parliament since 1900, and formation of a coalition of two or often three parties is always necessary. This is a time-consuming process. The entire procedure is regulated by tradition and convention, with only the final appointment process specified by law.
Since 2012, the House of Representative appoints a scout to explore which political parties are willing to form a cabinet together. In the subsequent information phase, negotiations will take place under the leadership of an informateur about the government's future policy programme, to be recorded in a coalition agreement.. If negotiations break down, a new informateur is appointed and the information process begins afresh. If the informateur is successful, the portfolios are determined, divided among the parties and ministers and state secretaries are sought under the leadership of a formateur. The formateur is usually the prospective Prime Minister.
If the formateur is successful, the Monarch appoints all ministers and state secretaries individually by Royal Decision (Koninklijk Besluit). Each Minister privately swears an oath of loyalty to the Constitution. After this the entire Council of Ministers and the King or Queen regnant are photographed on the stairs of the palace Huis ten Bosch during the bordes scene. The new cabinet then presents their government statement to parliament.
Between the dissolution of the States-General before general elections and the appointment of a new cabinet, the incumbent cabinet is termed demissionair , that is, a caretaker government limiting itself to urgent and pressing matters and traditionally not taking any controversial decisions. If a Cabinet falls during a parliamentary term because one of the coalition partners withdraws its support, the coalition partner in question may leave. This does not result in a demissionair Cabinet, unless the Prime Minister is granted a dissolution of the States-General. Instead, the remaining parties in the governing coalition form a rompkabinet ("rump cabinet"). If the parties do not between them control a majority of the House of Representatives, the cabinet continues as a minority government.
| Title | Minister | Term of office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name | Party | Start | End | ||
| Prime Minister |  | Dick Schoof | Indep. | 2 July 2024 | Incumbent | |
| First Deputy Prime Minister |  | Fleur Agema | PVV | 2 July 2024 | Incumbent | |
| Second Deputy Prime Minister |  | Sophie Hermans | VVD | 2 July 2024 | Incumbent | |
| Third Deputy Prime Minister |  | Eddy van Hijum | NSC | 2 July 2024 | Incumbent | |
| Fourth Deputy Prime Minister |  | Mona Keijzer | BBB | 2 July 2024 | Incumbent | |
There are fifteen ministries, all with their own Minister, there is also one Ministers without portfolio and in some ministries there is a State Secretary next to the Minister. The number of Ministers and State Secretaries and the division of their tasks may vary somewhat from one cabinet to another. The ministries are:
The first real cabinet was formed in 1848 after a constitution was adopted which limited the power of the King and introduced the principle of ministerial responsibility to parliament. Until 1888 cabinets lacked a real coordinating role, and instead ministers were focused on their own department. After 1888 cabinets became more political.
Of the 32 coalition governments since World War II, only three excluded the largest party (all three times PvdA) and the largest number of parties in a coalition was 5 (in 1971 and 1973). After that, the three major Christian-democratic parties merged into CDA, and 2- or 3-party coalitions became standard.
Since 1945 there have been 32 cabinets, which were headed by 16 prime ministers. Willem Drees and Jan Peter Balkenende both chaired the most cabinets (four) and Ruud Lubbers served as prime minister the longest (between 1982 and 1994). The second Rutte cabinet was the longest lasting cabinet since World War II (1,816 days); only the cabinet led by Theo Heemskerk sat longer (2025 days). The first Balkenende cabinet is the shortest lasting normal cabinet since World War II (87 days); only the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn lasted shorter (10 days).
The Cabinet of the Netherlands also takes responsibility for day-to-day affairs in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is distinct from the Netherlands, as it also includes the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint-Maarten. If affairs are decided which are of vital importance of the Kingdom as a whole, the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands is joined by a Minister Plenipotentiary for Aruba, Curaçao and Sint-Maarten to form the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom.
There are different types of cabinets:
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats, which are filled through elections using party-list proportional representation. Generally, the house is located in the Binnenhof in The Hague, however, it has temporarily moved to the former building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 in The Hague while the Binnenhof is being renovated.
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
The prime minister of the Netherlands is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the de jure head of government, the prime minister de facto occupies this role as the officeholder chairs the Council of Ministers and coordinates its policy with the rest of the cabinet. In his role as head of government, the prime minister also represents the Netherlands in the European Council. The current prime minister, Dick Schoof, has been in the position since 2 July 2024, with his cabinet being sworn in on the same day.
The Federal Government of Belgium exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. The federal government is led by the prime minister of Belgium, and ministers lead ministries of the government. Ministers together form the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive organ of the government.
The first Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1982. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Ruud Lubbers serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Liberal politician Gijs van Aardenne, a former Minister of Economic Affairs, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned Minister of Economic Affairs.
The De Jong cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 5 April 1967 until 6 July 1971. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and Christian Historical Union (CHU) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1967. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with prominent Catholic politician Piet de Jong the Minister of Defence in the previous cabinet serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Liberal politician Johan Witteveen a former Minister of Finances served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, prominent Protestant politician Joop Bakker the Minister of Economic Affairs in the previous cabinet served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Water Management and was given the portfolio of Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs.
A formateur is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur is especially important in the politics of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Israel and the Czech Republic. These countries have a parliamentary system, where the executive derives its mandate from majority support in the legislature. They also use proportional representation for elections to parliament, and have a multiparty system that makes it improbable for one party to win an outright majority. There may be several combinations of parties which might form a coalition. The formateur is traditionally appointed by the head of state but in the Netherlands that became the right of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the early 21st century.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2006. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as prime minister. Labour Leader Wouter Bos served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance while Social Christian Leader André Rouvoet served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for Health, Welfare and Sport.
The formation of a Dutch cabinet is the process of government formation of a Dutch cabinet, consisting of ministers and state secretaries. Most cabinet formations take place after elections for the House of Representatives, but these can also take place in between.
The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) after the election of 2010. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives but had confidence and supply from the Party for Freedom (PVV) for a slim majority with Liberal Leader Mark Rutte serving as Prime Minister. Christian Democratic Leader Maxime Verhagen served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU) after the general election of 2017.
After the Dutch general election of 25 May 1977, a cabinet formation took place in the Netherlands. On 19 December 1977, this resulted in the First Van Agt cabinet. The coalition was formed by the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
Following the Dutch general election of 22 November 2023, a process of cabinet formation was launched, resulting in the formation of the Schoof cabinet on 2 July 2024, comprising the Party for Freedom (PVV), the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), New Social Contract (NSC) and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB). Despite intentions to form an extra-parliamentary cabinet, the cabinet is generally considered a parliamentary cabinet.
After the Dutch Second Van Agt cabinet fell on 12 May 1982, the rump cabinet Van Agt III was formed. On 29 May, this minority cabinet of Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Democrats 66 (D'66) took office. It was a continuation of Van Agt II, but without the Labour Party (PvdA).
The Schoof cabinet is the cabinet of the Netherlands, sworn in on 2 July 2024. Led by independent politician and civil servant Dick Schoof as prime minister of the Netherlands, the cabinet was formed by the Party for Freedom (PVV), the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the New Social Contract (NSC) and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) after the 2023 Dutch general election.
The Night of Schmelzer was a debate in the House of the Representatives of the Netherlands that took place from 13 October to the early hours of 14 October 1966. The night was the last day of the general debate on the 1967 budget, which had started on 11 October. During the conclusion of the debate, Norbert Schmelzer, the parliamentary group leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP), introduced a motion against the Cals cabinet. This cabinet included members from the KVP, alongside Labour Party (PvdA) en de Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). The motion was perceived by the cabinet as a vote of no confidence, but it was passed regardless. As a result, the cabinet resigned on 15 October.
A process of cabinet formation took place in the Netherlands following the general election of September 2012. After 54 days this led to the Second Rutte cabinet, consisting of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA). This made it one of the fastest cabinet formations. The formation was the first in which the monarch of the Netherlands did not play an active role.
A process of cabinet formation took place in the Netherlands after the cabinet crisis over the public broadcasting system led to the resignation of the Marijnen cabinet on 27 February 1965. The formation resulted in the Cals cabinet on 14 April 1965. The coalition was formed by the Catholic People's Party (KVP), the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP).
A cabinet formation took place in Netherlands following the general election of 26 May 1981. The formation led to the inauguration of the second Van Agt cabinet on 11 September, composed of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the Labour Party (PvdA), and Democrats 66 (D'66). The cabinet fell shortly before the government statement, but was patched up within three weeks.
No party affiliation (proposed by NSC)
