Fall of the Schoof I cabinet – caretaker status, controversial issues, and upcoming elections

In the early hours of Tuesday, 3 June 2025, PVV leader Geert Wilders announced via X (formerly Twitter) that his parliamentary group would be leaving the coalition with VVD, NSC, and BBB, after the other governing parties refused to adopt his ten-point plan for a strict asylum and migration policy. Shortly afterwards, PVV ministers announced they would be resigning. Prime Minister Dick Schoof convened an emergency Council of Ministers meeting lasting nearly two hours and subsequently announced the fall of the government during a press conference. All PVV ministers are stepping down with immediate effect. After the press conference, Prime Minister Schoof departed to formally offer the cabinet’s resignation to King Willem-Alexander, thereby officially opening the path to new elections. This marks an abrupt end to a coalition that had only been sworn in on 2 July 2024 and thus had been in office for less than a year. Coalition partners reacted with surprise and accused Wilders of “abandoning responsibility,” while opposition leader Frans Timmermans immediately demanded new elections.

A fragile coalition from the start

The combination of VVD, BBB, NSC and the largest parliamentary group PVV was, from the beginning, a fragile balance between technocracy and populism. Fault lines primarily emerged around migration and the constitutional limits arising from existing EU law and treaties. Last week, tensions escalated when Wilders issued his coalition partners an ultimatum: without full adoption of his migration demands, PVV would withdraw its support. In various media outlets, anonymous coalition sources remarked that “trust had already been fragile for weeks.”

A caretaker government

Once the King has taken the resignation “under consideration, while maintaining existing ministerial responsibility,” the Schoof I Cabinet becomes caretaker. Legally, a caretaker cabinet retains the same powers as a regular cabinet: it can submit legislation and sign treaties. Politically and administratively, however, the unwritten rule is that it limits itself to “current affairs.” This practice has been a part of Dutch political custom since the 1980s and was last evident after the fall of the Rutte IV Cabinet (on 7 July 2023). That government remained in caretaker status for over eleven months, focusing only on urgent EU negotiations, purchasing power packages, and crisis measures, while major reforms (such as the migration pact and tax overhaul) were postponed to a new coalition. This precedent is relevant now: although Schoof I is formally allowed to act, political and societal pressure will demand restraint. Nonetheless, ministers will continue to represent the Netherlands in the European Council and at international summits, albeit with a narrow mandate.

Parliament takes the lead: controversial or not?

Which issues are put on hold is determined by the House of Representatives in special procedural meetings. Each standing committee votes by simple majority on whether ongoing legislative proposals, letters, royal decrees (AMvBs), and scheduled committee debates are to be considered controversial. In the summer of 2023, the House declared over 300 items controversial, including the Agricultural Agreement and parts of the fiscal climate agenda. At the same time, urgent files such as the Tax Plan and support to Ukraine continued. Experience shows that political considerations and lobbying efforts weigh heavily in this process. In 2023, several organisations successfully secured continued progress by convincing MPs that delays posed greater risks than continued debate. Once the full House has approved the final list, the selected items are removed from the agenda until a new government is in place—or until a majority lifts the freeze. During his press conference, Prime Minister Schoof expressed hope of continuing in a mission-oriented role on issues such as security, migration, and nitrogen—provided the House consents. For organisations, this is the moment to approach MPs with compelling arguments for why their topic should—or should not—be placed on hold.

Next steps: toward elections

With Prime Minister Schoof’s announcement, new elections have become a certainty. Once the resignation is in the hands of the King, the House will send a formal request to the Electoral Council to organise a new election. Municipalities are expected—just as in 2023—to require at least five months of preparation time for polling locations, staff, and IT systems. As a result, there is broad political consensus in The Hague that elections will once again be held in mid-November 2025. The parallels with two years ago are striking: Rutte IV fell on 7 July 2023, elections were held on 22 November, and it wasn’t until 2 July 2024 that the Schoof I Cabinet was formed. That formation process took 224 days. A similar or even longer trajectory is not unthinkable this time, as the political landscape appears no less fragmented than it was in 2023.

Implications for Budget Day and the budget cycle

Now that elections have officially been announced, the 2026 national budget will depend heavily on the unfolding political timeline. If elections take place in the last quarter of 2025, as currently seems most likely, the cabinet will have to submit a “policy-light” Budget Memorandum on Budget Day, 16 September, due to its caretaker status. This will likely be limited to ongoing obligations, automatic wage and price adjustments, and potentially a few urgent measures (e.g. for purchasing power or energy prices). However, if a temporary political agreement with majority support emerges before summer, more substantial policy decisions could still be added. Nothing is set in stone. The duration of the post-election formation is the second major uncertainty. If a new coalition is formed before 1 July 2026, its policy priorities could still be included in the 2026 Spring Budget Memorandum. If the formation process continues beyond the summer, major decisions will likely be postponed until Budget Day 2026—or later. For organisations, this means preparing for multiple scenarios and having clear strategic positioning ready for each key political moment.

Campaign season is influence season

Once elections are announced, parties will immediately enter a busy campaign period: selecting lead candidates, drafting manifestos, compiling candidate lists, and organising party congresses. For advocates and interest groups, this is the ideal moment to provide program committees, shadow spokespeople, and prospective MPs with well-substantiated proposals—ensuring that important themes find their way into party platforms and eventually coalition agreements. At the same time, the controversial-item procedure offers a window of opportunity to keep issues either on or off the political agenda.

Final note

There is no playbook for this unique combination of a cabinet collapse, summer recess, and global geopolitical developments (with the Netherlands set to host the NATO summit in June). The coming months in The Hague and Brussels will be marked by considerable uncertainty—but also by opportunities to shape policy direction. Public Matters is closely monitoring all political and administrative developments on the road to a new government. If you have any questions about the fall of the Schoof I Cabinet or would like to advance your message strategically during this transitional period, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re happy to support you in determining the right approach and timing.