Letschert says coalition would discuss any remaining budget gap

A cabinet table outlining how to fund an alternative to social-security cuts assigns a large share of the cost to education, ANP reported. Opposition MPs challenged D66 over the table during a Dutch parliamentary debate on the government’s finances. [1]

D66 MP Henk-Jan Oosterhuis told SP MP Sandra Beckerman that cutting education should be the last resort, arguing that the Netherlands would need skilled workers and highly educated people in the future. He said the table had little value to him and that he had not known about it until shortly before it reached parliament. [1]

Asked whether the governing parties had agreed on how to divide the cost, Oosterhuis said their political agreement was to work towards a social accord, then assess its financial consequences and how to pay for it in the spring. [1]

Update

A Finance Ministry table on containing spending in 2027 puts 39% to 49% of the proposed savings against the Education Ministry, ANP reported. Other ministries are listed for shares of a few per cent. The figure is a share of the savings under consideration, not a proposed percentage cut to the education budget. [2]

Letschert said she was not worried that millions of euros would have to be taken from her budget. If a funding gap remains, she said, Social Affairs minister Hans Vijlbrief would also examine his department’s budget, while the coalition discusses the issue more broadly. [2]

Update

The Dutch cabinet has put a planned multibillion-euro cut to social security on hold while it seeks an agreement with trade unions and employers. Education Minister Rianne Letschert said that if a funding gap remains, Social Affairs Minister Hans Vijlbrief would examine his own budget and the coalition parties would discuss the issue more broadly. [3]

Letschert said she would strongly oppose cuts to her department if the agreement delivered too little. A Finance Ministry table assigns 39–49% of proposed cuts for 2027 to education, ANP reported, though Letschert says the coalition has not agreed to education cuts. The percentage is a share of the proposed cuts, not a cut to the education budget.