PRO and Volt form a bloc for budget talks
The cooperation could help the cabinet find majorities, but the joint position is not yet public.
PRO and Volt are acting together in talks on the minority cabinet’s budget, several Dutch media outlets report. Public sources do confirm that the cabinet sees both parties as negotiating partners, but not exactly what formal agreements they have made.
Prime Minister Jetten wants to seek support from opposition parties for the Budget Memorandum and the Tax Plan. In the parliamentary debate, he said he favours broad agreements covering the entire budget, so that costs and compensatory measures can be weighed against each other.
The cabinet consists of D66, VVD and CDA and has no majority in the Lower House (Tweede Kamer). According to earlier reporting by NOS, the coalition parties hold 66 of the 150 seats in the Lower House and 22 of the 75 seats in the Senate (Eerste Kamer). Support from opposition parties is therefore needed for budget laws.
PRO has previously said it wants to negotiate on the budget, but not on cuts to unemployment and disability benefits. The party accuses the cabinet of failing to choose a clear political direction. In the budget debate, Volt among other things called for attention to climate policy and an independent European AI industry.
The new cooperation could strengthen both parties’ negotiating position. Together, PRO and Volt can coordinate their demands and prevent the cabinet from playing them off against each other separately. That is a political interpretation; no public document has been found describing a joint negotiating team or a formal agreement.
It is also not yet clear whether PRO and Volt are cooperating only on specific issues or jointly formulating conditions for their support. The government is speaking with several parties, including JA21, the ChristenUnie, the SGP and 50PLUS. An agreement is therefore not a foregone conclusion and may differ from one budget chapter to another.
The forthcoming talks will probably concern not only amounts, but also the direction of cabinet policy. Broad support is attractive to the cabinet because it can provide greater stability. For opposition parties, support is politically more sensitive: they may gain influence over policy, but also risk being held responsible for the choices of a cabinet of which they are not part.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The cabinet needs support from opposition parties for budget laws.
- Jetten favours broad agreements covering the entire budget.
- PRO and Volt have been named by the cabinet as possible negotiating partners.
- The exact joint negotiating conditions are not public.
Left
Arguments See cooperation with PRO and Volt as an opportunity to better protect social security, climate policy and public investment from cuts.
Values Redistribution, public services and sustainability.
Consequences An agreement could preserve social programmes, but could also lead to higher spending or less far-reaching reforms.
Centre
Arguments Seek a broad budget agreement in which several parties take responsibility and the financial consequences of each measure are calculated.
Values Stability, practicability and institutional continuity.
Consequences A broad agreement could provide administrative calm, but risks becoming vague in substance.
Right
Arguments Warn that a left-leaning bloc could inflate the budget and water down labour-market reforms.
Values Fiscal discipline, labour-force participation and clear political choices.
Consequences Stricter conditions could protect the public finances, but would probably make support from PRO and Volt more difficult.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The constitutional and parliamentary context is well documented. The formal nature of the PRO–Volt bloc could not be independently confirmed and has been toned down in the text.
- confirmed The cabinet wants broad agreements on the Budget Memorandum and the Tax Plan. — Plenary report of the Lower House. source
- confirmed D66, VVD and CDA have 66 seats in the Lower House and 22 in the Senate. — NOS overview of the minority coalition. source
- confirmed PRO opposes cuts to unemployment and disability benefits. — NOS quotes PRO’s political position. source
- uncertain PRO and Volt have formed a formal joint negotiating team. — The new reports say they are acting together, but no public formal document has been found. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: PRO and Volt form a formal bloc for the budget talks.Now: PRO and Volt are acting together, according to several Dutch media outlets; the precise formal agreements are not yet public. (The available open sources confirm the talks separately, but not the formal structure of the new bloc.)
Editor's note
Open sources confirm the budget talks and the parliamentary balance of power, but not the precise new form of cooperation between PRO and Volt. The status is therefore insufficient_sources.Sources
- Plenaire verslagen Tweede Kamer — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- Algemene Politieke Beschouwingen afgerond — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- Pro, JA21 en SGP blijven erbij: kabinet moet kiezen tussen links en rechts — NOS
- Oppositie op gesprek over Prinsjesdagplannen, status nog onduidelijk — NOS
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „begroting pro”
- de Volkskrant — „begroting pro”
- RTL Nieuws — „begroting pro”