Dutch Government Secures Majority for Budget Deal
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The Dutch caretaker government secured a parliamentary majority for its austerity package Thursday evening, after clinching the support of a fifth political party, The Wall Street Journal reported. Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager had been engaged in talks with three left-leaning opposition parties in an effort to reach agreement on the 2013 budget ahead of a key debate in Parliament later in the day and a European Commission deadline next week. Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte had needed to get the Green Party, or GroenLinks, on board in order to hold a two-seat majority in the 150-seat lower house, after winning the backing of two other opposition parties earlier in the day. Mr. Rutte, whose government fell earlier this week when he failed to get support from the populist Freedom Party PVV for his budget proposals, needs the backing of several left-leaning opposition parties to pass the austerity measures. The deadline is tight, as the EU Commission is expecting the Dutch to present a proposal by the end of this month on how the country will achieve a deficit of 3% of gross domestic product by 2013. Emerging from closed-door negotiations, Green Party Leader Jolande Sap told reporters her members had given the deal their "full support," while acknowledging that "painful rounds of cuts lie ahead." The government plans to inform the EU Commission by Monday of its proposal on how the country will achieve a deficit of 3% of gross domestic product by 2013. Read more. (Subscription required.)