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.

Fourth Balkenende cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the fourth Balkenende cabinet on 22 February 2007
Date formed	22 February 2007 (2007-02-22)
Date dissolved	14 October 2010 (2010-10-14) 3 years, 234 days in office (Demissionary from 20 February 2010 (2010-02-20))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Beatrix
Head of government	Jan Peter Balkenende
Deputy head of government	Wouter Bos André Rouvoet
No. of ministers	16
Ministers removed	7
Total no. of members	19
Member party	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Labour Party (PvdA) Christian Union (CU)
Status in legislature	Centrist Majority government (Grand coalition)
History
Election	2006 election
Outgoing election	2010 election
Legislature terms	2006–2010
Incoming formation	2006–2007 formation
Outgoing formation	2010 formation
Predecessor	Third Balkenende cabinet
Successor	First Rutte cabinet

The cabinet served during the unstable late 2000s; domestically it had to deal with the financial crisis of 2008 and major reforms to the education system, while internationally, it had to deal with the war on terror and the government support for the Task Force Uruzgan. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations. The cabinet fell prematurely on 20 February 2010 after the Labour Party refused to support an extension of the Task Force Uruzgan mission with the Labour Party cabinet members resigning on 23 February 2010, and the cabinet continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced after the election of 2010.

Formation

Main article: 2006–07 Dutch cabinet formation

Following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet on 30 June 2006 the Democrats 66 (D66) left the coalition and the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) formed a rump cabinet. The Third Balkenende cabinet was installed on 7 July 2006 and served as a caretaker government until the election of 2006 on 22 November 2006. After the election the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) of incumbent Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was the winner of the election but lost 3 seats and had now a total of 41 seats. The Labour Party (PvdA) of Wouter Bos lost 9 seats and had now 33 seats. The Socialist Party (SP) of Jan Marijnissen was the biggest winner with 16 new seats and had now 25 seats. Two new parties won representation in the House of Representatives, the recently founded Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders, a former Member of the House of Representatives for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy won nine seats and the Party for the Animals (PvdD) of Marianne Thieme, a noted animal rights activist won two seats, the first time an animal advocacy party won representation in a national legislative body.

On 25 November 2006 Queen Beatrix appointed Member of the Council of State Rein Jan Hoekstra (CDA) as Informateur. Hoekstra explored the possibilities for the different three party coalitions, since no two parties could form a majority in the House of Representatives together. This resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Labour Party (PvdA) and the Christian Union (CU), together these three parties had 79 seats out of 150 seats in the House of Representatives.^[1]

On 20 December 2006 Queen Beatrix appointed former Chairman of the Social-Economic Council Herman Wijffels (CDA) as Informateur to start the second information round and negotiate a coalition agreement between the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal Jan Peter Balkenende, the Leader of the Labour Party Wouter Bos and the Leader of the Christian Union André Rouvoet. On 7 February 2007 a coalition was reached with the motto of the agreement: "Samen leven, samen werken" ("Living together, working together"). On 9 February 2007 Queen Beatrix appointed incumbent Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) as Formateur to start the last phase of the formation.^[2] On 22 February the cabinet members were sworn in by Queen Beatrix.

Term

Policy

The coalition agreement titled "Living together, working together" was presented on 7 February in a press conference by Balkenende, Bos, Rouvoet. It is structured into six commitments of the new cabinet. If a proposal was included in a party's electoral manifesto, this is mentioned as well.^[3][4]

• An active and constructive role in the world, which is characterized by these policies:
  • Continued investments into the Joint Strike Fighter (as the CDA proposed).
  • The new cabinet is not in favour of a new referendum on the European Constitution, which was voted down in 2005, but will consider new initiatives (both the CDA and CU opposed the referendum initially).
• An innovative, competitive and entrepreneurial economy, which is characterized by these policies:
  • 1 billion increased spending on education (as all parties proposed).
  • Privatization of Schiphol airport is shelved (as the CU and the PvdA proposed).
• A durable environment, which is characterized by these policies:
  • 800 million euros additional spending on renewable energy (as both the PvdA and the CU proposed).
  • Pollution will be taxed more heavily (as both the PvdA and the CU proposed).
  • A tax on airline tickets totalling 350 million euros (as all parties proposed).
  • No new investments in nuclear energy (as the CU and the PvdA proposed).
• Social cohesion, which is characterized by these policies:
  • A reform of the system of basic state pensions: people who have private pensions of 15,000 euros and higher and who stop working before the age of 65 will pay an additional tax as of 2011. People who work beyond 65 receive tax breaks. This measure should guarantee an affordable basic state pension (AOW) despite trends in population ageing (a compromise between the PvdA, which wanted to tax all rich elderly and the CDA which wanted incentives to make people work longer).
  • Public social housing will not be liberalised, rent rates may be raised only in line with inflation (as the PvdA proposed).
  • The tax deduction on mortgage interest payments remains unchanged (as the CDA proposed).
  • Investments in problem areas in the large cities to make them "beautiful neighbourhoods" (as the PvdA proposed).
  • Re-implementation of the subsidized jobs-scheme for the unemployed (as the PvdA proposed).
  • Childcare spending totalling 700 million euros (free child care was a PvdA election promise and opposed by CDA).
• Safety, stability and respect, which is characterized by these policies:
  • Reduction of all crimes by 25%.
  • A ban on burqas and other face covering clothing for security reasons (as the CDA proposed).
• Government and a servile public sector^[5]
  • In response to opposition to extravagant wages earned by some top civil servants and top-level managers of quangos, sometimes five times that of the prime minister, no one will be allowed an income greater than the prime minister's. To accomplish this, the prime minister's salary will be increased.
  • Cutting the number of civil servants to save 750 million euros.
  • Women seeking an abortion are to expect an additional waiting period between first consultation and actual procedure on top of the already mandatory five days waiting period (as the CU proposed).
  • Minor reforms of the health care-system, including the abolishment of the no claim and the re-inclusion of dental care into the basic insurance.
  • Increased taxation on cigarettes and liquor, smoke-free bars and restaurants by 2011.
  • A general pardon for asylum seekers who entered the Netherlands before the new Asylum Law came into effect (as both the CU and the PvdA proposed).
  • The coalition wants to have a budget surplus of 1% of the GDP by 2011 with a projected 2% annual economic growth (as all parties proposed).

Fall and aftermath

In February 2010, NATO had officially requested the Netherlands to extend its military involvement in Task Force Uruzgan, the ISAF operation in the Afghan province of Uruzgan, aimed at training Afghan security forces and transfer of responsibilities to the local authorities.^[6][7][8] Coalition party PvdA strongly opposed the extension of the mission.^[9][10][11] The collision between the government and the parliament, of which the majority disagreed with an extension of the mission, as well as between the coalition partners in the cabinet, threatened the existence of the cabinet^[12] and led to its fall in the night between 19 and 20 February 2010, after 16 hours of deliberations between the cabinet members. The Labour members resigned from the cabinet.^{[13][14][15][16]}

As queen Beatrix was on holiday in Austria (Lech am Arlberg) at the time, Balkenende informed her formally by phone about the break-up of the cabinet. She returned soon to The Hague and held consultations with advisors and with the leaders of all political groupings in parliament on 22 and 23 February. On the latter day, the queen accepted the resignations of the PvdA ministers and secretaries, and maintained the 15 remaining cabinet members of CDA and Christian Union (whose positions had also been offered to the queen for consideration, a customary procedure in the Netherlands) to run a demissionary cabinet (caretaker government), which meant that it could not make large decisions or proposals on topics deemed controversial. No new cabinet members were appointed, the already functioning ministers and state secretaries taking care of the empty positions until a new government would be formed. Early elections were held on 9 June 2010. The cabinet formation started a day later.^{[citation needed]}

Labour leader Wouter Bos, who resigned as deputy prime minister and finance minister, announced that he wanted to continue to lead his party. Labour Party leader Bos denied that the upcoming local elections in the Netherlands played a role in the decision to refuse to compromise on a possible extension of the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan.^[17]

Flemish Christian Democratic Leader Yves Leterme and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a European People's Party conference in Berlin on 24 March 2007.

Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of France François Fillon and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a European People's Party conference in Brussels on 21 June 2007.

Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., on 23 October 2007.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of the United States George W. Bush in the Oval Office on 5 June 2008.

Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a European People's Party conference in Warsaw on 29 April 2009.

American First Lady Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of the United States Barack Obama at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on 23 September 2009.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of France Nicolas Sarkozy at the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., on 14 April 2010.

President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in Toronto on 10 June 2010.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Prime Minister of Belgium Yves Leterme at a European People's Party conference in Meise on 16 June 2010.

Cabinet members

Ministers			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende (born 1956)	Prime Minister	General Affairs		22 July 2002 – 14 October 2010 [Retained]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Wouter Bos (born 1963)	Deputy Prime Minister	Finance		22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
			Minister
		André Rouvoet (born 1962)	Deputy Prime Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport	• Youth Care • Family Policy	22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Union
			Minister
			Minister	Education, Culture and Science		23 February 2010 14 October 2010
		Dr. Guusje ter Horst (born 1952)	Minister	Interior and Kingdom Relations		22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Ernst Hirsch Ballin (born 1950)				23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
			Minister	Justice		22 September 2006 – 14 October 2010 [Retained]
		Maxime Verhagen (born 1956)	Minister	Foreign Affairs		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
			Minister		• Development Cooperation	23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010
		Jan Kees de Jager (born 1969)	Minister	Finance		23 February 2010 – 5 November 2012 [Continued]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Maria van der Hoeven (born 1949)	Minister	Economic Affairs		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Eimert van Middelkoop (born 1949)	Minister	Defence		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Union
			Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	• Integration • Public Housing • Minorities	23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010
		Dr. Ab Klink (born 1958)	Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Piet Hein Donner (born 1948)	Minister	Social Affairs and Employment		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Ronald Plasterk (born 1957)	Minister	Education, Culture and Science		22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Camiel Eurlings (born 1973)	Minister	Transport and Water Management		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Gerda Verburg (born 1957)	Minister	Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality		22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Jacqueline Cramer (born 1951)	Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment		22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Tineke Huizinga (born 1960)				23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010	Christian Union
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Bert Koenders (born 1958)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	• Development Cooperation	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Ella Vogelaar (1949–2019)	Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	• Integration • Public Housing • Minorities	22 February 2007 – 14 November 2008 [Res]	Labour Party
		Eberhard van der Laan (1955–2017)				14 November 2008 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Ank Bijleveld (born 1962)	State Secretary	Interior and Kingdom Relations	• Kingdom Relations • Municipalities • Provinces • Emergency Management	22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Frans Timmermans (born 1961)	State Secretary [Title]	Foreign Affairs	• European Union • Benelux	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Jan Kees de Jager (born 1969)	State Secretary	Finance	• Fiscal Policy • Tax and Customs • Governmental Budget	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [App]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Nebahat Albayrak (born 1968)	State Secretary	Justice	• Immigration and Asylum • Penitentiaries	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Frank Heemskerk (born 1969)	State Secretary [Title]	Economic Affairs	• Trade and Export • Small and Medium-sized Businesses • Consumer Protection • Telecommunication • Postal Service • Tourism [Title]	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Cees van der Knaap (born 1951)	State Secretary	Defence	• Human Resources • Equipment	22 July 2002 – 18 December 2007 [Retained] [App]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Jack de Vries (born 1968)				18 December 2007 – 18 May 2010 [Res]	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Jet Bussemaker (born 1961)	State Secretary	Health, Welfare and Sport	• Elderly care • Disability policy • Medical ethics • Sport	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Ahmed Aboutaleb (born 1961)	State Secretary	Social Affairs and Employment	• Social Security • Unemployment • Occupational Safety • Social Services	22 February 2007 – 18 December 2008 [App]	Labour Party
		Jetta Klijnsma (born 1957)				18 December 2008 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Marja van Bijsterveldt (born 1961)	State Secretary	Education, Culture and Science	• Secondary Education	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010	Christian Democratic Appeal
					• Higher Education • Secondary Education • Science Policy • Media • Culture • Art • Emancipation	23 February 2010 – 14 October 2010
		Sharon Dijksma (born 1971)			• Primary Education • Special Education • Preschool	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [Res]	Labour Party
		Tineke Huizinga (born 1960)	State Secretary	Transport and Water Management	• Public Transport • Water Management • Weather Forecasting	22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 [App]	Christian Union

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^{Designated with the diplomatic rank of Minister}

^{Appointed as Minister of Finance}

^{Appointed as Mayor of Ede}

^{Appointed as Mayor of Rotterdam}

^{Appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment}

Trivia

• Six cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors: Jan Peter Balkenende (Christian Theology), Guusje ter Horst (Dental Medicine), Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Constitutional and Administrative Law), Ronald Plasterk (Molecular Genetics), Jacqueline Cramer (Environmental Studies) and Jet Bussemaker (Political Science).
• Seven cabinet members (later) served as Mayor: Guusje ter Horst (Nijmegen), Eberhard van der Laan (Amsterdam), Ank Bijleveld (Hof van Twente), Cees van der Knaap (Ede), Ahmed Aboutaleb (Rotterdam), Jetta Klijnsma (The Hague) and Marja van Bijsterveldt (Schipluiden and Delft).
• Ten cabinet members would later have other high-profile work, in the public sector: Wouter Bos (Dutch Investment Agency), André Rouvoet (Healthcare Insurance association) and Maxime Verhagen (Construction association), in the private sector: Jan Kees de Jager (KPN) and Ab Klink (VGZ Cooperative), and international functions: Maria van der Hoeven (International Energy Agency), Gerda Verburg (Food and Agriculture Organization), Bert Koenders (United Nations), Frans Timmermans (European Commission) and Frank Heemskerk (World Bank Group).

References

1. "Balkenende clings to power as Dutch head for uneasy coalition". The Independent. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
2. "Balkenende benoemd tot formateur" (in Dutch). NOS. 11 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
3. "Coalitieakkoord tussen de Tweede Kamerfracties van CDA, PvdA en ChristenUnie" (PDF) (in Dutch). NOS. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
4. "Hoofdpunten regeerakkoord" (in Dutch). NOS. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
5. Overheid en dienstbare publieke sector
6. (in Dutch)"NAVO verzoekt nieuwe missie Afghanistan"
7. "NATO would like Dutch to train Afghan troops"
8. (in Dutch)"Kabinet onderzoekt langere missie Afghanistan"
9. "Nato troop request sparks political row"
10. (in Dutch)"Conflict naar climax: nog deze week Uruzgan-besluit"
11. "Labour says final 'no' to Afghanistan". DutchNews.nl. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
12. "Will the Dutch government fall over troop deployment?"
13. (in Dutch)"Verklaring Balkenende na afloop ministerraad"
14. (in Dutch)"Kabinet-Balkenende IV gevallen"
15. ""Dutch government falls over Afghanistan mission"". Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
16. "Dutch Government Collapses Over Afghan Mission"
17. "Bos denies decision influenced by March poll"

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende IV Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende IV Rijksoverheid