Coalition leaders resume cabinet crisis talks in Hilversum

Prime Minister Rob Jetten and the leaders of coalition parties D66, VVD and CDA resumed talks on the cabinet's future at 11.00 today. They are meeting at De Zwaluwenberg, an estate in Hilversum.

The VVD has not yet pulled the plug on the cabinet, but it wants substantive changes, including on the business and investment climate. D66 and CDA want the VVD to leave if it sticks to its demands, so that the two can continue as a minority cabinet. The VVD rejects that: it wants all three parties to pull the plug together and head to new elections.

According to people familiar with the talks, the deputy prime ministers Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD) and Bart van den Brink (CDA) are attending, along with parliamentary leaders Jan Paternotte (D66), Henri Bontenbal (CDA) and Ruben Brekelmans (VVD).

Yeşilgöz wants "substantive corrections" and a better-balanced coalition.

D66 and CDA take the opposite view. They want the VVD to leave if it sticks to its demands, so the two parties could continue as a minority cabinet. Jetten believes the coalition can still be saved.

The crisis broke out when D66 and CDA struck a deal on the tax plan with opposition parties PRO and Volt. The VVD said it had been "ambushed" and demanded a "fundamental reset". Jetten said earlier he wanted to talk about a "a serious fresh start".