• English
  • Vacancies
  • Client login
  • Bezuidenhoutseweg 101, The Hague
  • Avenue des Arts 39, Brussels
  • Nederlands Nederlands Dutch nl
  • English English English en
Public Matters
  • Home
  • Services
  • Sectors
  • People
  • About us
  • News
  • Vacancies
  • Contact
  • Client login
  • +31 (0) 70 304 6499
  • Direct mail
  • English
  • Menu
News

UPDATE DUTCH POLITICS Cabinet Rutte resigns following childcare benefit scandal

15-01-2021
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by Mail

Today, Prime Minister Mark Rutte will offer the resignation of his Cabinet to King Willem-Alexander, following a parliamentary report on a childcare benefit scandal, involving parents who were wrongly accused of defrauding the childcare benefit system.

In the report “Unprecedented Injustice”, a Parliamentary Inquiry Committee concluded, among other things, that fundamental principles of the rule of law were violated by the Dutch Tax Authority. Legislative implementation to fight fraud leading to these violations was not sufficiently overseen by several Cabinet members, which is now one of the reasons for the Cabinet to resign. The consequences of the resignation – in particular how the outgoing Cabinet will deal with the COVID-crisis – will become clear in the next few days.

What happened!?

The childcare benefit scandal is a political affair in which approximately 26,000 parents became unjustly victim of suspected fraud with the childcare allowance and/or became victims of a hard fraud approach by the Tax Administration. The result was that many of these parents found themselves in significant financial difficulty, in some cases even bankruptcy and uncertainty for many years. Many families were pursued for fraud before the courts, ordered to repay benefits and denied the right for appeal from 2012 on.

This came to light in September 2018 and subsequently led to the resignation of state secretary of Finance Menno Snel (D66). Current Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) was head of the ministerial committee against fraud at that time. Current minister of Economic Affairs Eric Wiebes (VVD) was state secretary for Finance. The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee reports he misinformed the House of Representatives about the issue. In addition, Lodewijk Asscher (PvdA), then minister for Social Affairs and currently opposition leader of the Social Democrats in the House of Representatives, was also held responsible. Asscher announced on January 14 to resign over the affair as political leader for the upcoming elections. The government has apologized and in 2020 set aside compensation of over 500 million euros.

Caretaker Cabinet

When Prime Minister Rutte – who said earlier this week that the VVD was to opposed dissolving the current coalition – has offered the resignation of his Cabinet to the King, his Cabinet becomes a so-called caretaker cabinet. A caretaker Cabinet with currently four ruling parties, has the same powers as a regular cabinet. When the Prime Minister offers the resignation of his cabinet, the King asks the Prime Minister “to do whatever is deemed necessary in the interest of the Kingdom”. In practice, this means that the Cabinet only deals with “current affairs” – policies that are urgent and not controversial. It is the House of Representatives that decides what is urgent and not controversial. The House already would have ended its formal session on February 12 due to the upcoming national elections and campaign recess. It seems likely that in the coming months the focus of the Cabinet remains primarily on COVID-related issues and that most other topics will be declared controversial. Prior to today’s resignation, opposition parties PvdA and GroenLinks have already announced to support a caretaker Cabinet fighting the COVID-pandemic.

Elections on 17 March 2021

When a Prime Minister offers the resignation of his cabinet to the King, new elections need to be held no later than three months after the King has signed the so-called dissolution decree. Since the elections were already scheduled for 17 March 2021 and this date falls within this three-month period, this date is expected to be maintained. After the elections, the Cabinet will maintain a caretaker status until a cabinet is formed. Which parties will form a new Cabinet depends on the election results. Thus far the VVD of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the PVV/Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders and the CDA/Christian Democrats with the new political leader Wopke Hoekstra, are doing well in the polls.

'Parents were wrongly accused of defrauding the childcare benefit system'

Bas Batelaan

Managing Partner

+31 (0)70 3046 499

bbatelaan@publicmatters.eu

Read more:

Marloes Telgenhof joins Public Matters Team as Senior Director
28 Jun 2022
Uitgelicht
News
Nitrogen crisis puts provinces on the map of lobbyists
22 Jun 2022
News
The patient’s voice in the healthcare debate
16 Jun 2022
News
Public Matters celebrates 20th anniversary in Nieuwspoort
13 May 2022
News
New talents join Team Public Matters
07 Apr 2022
News

  • Ruim drie maanden na de #gemeenteraadsverkiezingen is er in bijna 14 procent van de gemeenten nog geen nieuw college. De formatie gaat daarmee aanzienlijk trager dan vier jaar geleden https://t.co/Bwmy677zEh #GR2022

    2022-07-04 10:21:14




  • Wie de afgelopen weken een blik wierp op de parlementaire commissieagenda’s, zal iets nieuws zijn opgevallen: de strategische #procedurevergadering. Dit volgt uit het advies van de Werkgroep Van Der Staaij. Wat dit precies inhoudt, lees je hier 👇 https://t.co/WgQzUMYbZe

    2022-06-29 11:39:38




  • Per 1 juli 2022 start Marloes Telgenhof als Senior Director bij Public Matters. Met haar uitgebreide ervaring bij zowel de overheid als het bedrijfsleven is Marloes een welkome versterking van het Public Matters Team! https://t.co/fFpdO5NG1h #werkenbijPM

    2022-06-28 10:36:33




  • Gisteren spraken we in het PM-webinar met @ErikHaverkort en @BroekhofMartijn over de routekaart om van Nederland koploper te maken in duurzame industrie. Het was een interessante en interactieve discussie! Terugkijken kan via 👉 https://t.co/FCOXyCdRjl #PMwebinar https://t.co/ZOUig19WQO

    2022-06-24 17:06:23




  • Een nieuwe wet moet zorgen voor een betere controle op de politieke geldstromen. ‘Geld is te belangrijk geworden in de politiek’, aldus toezichthouder partijfinanciën @edanker in @FTM_nl https://t.co/bbx96oFEaW

    2022-06-24 10:00:13




  • De komende tijd zal veel aandacht uitgaan naar de #boerenprotesten en debat in de #TweedeKamer over de #stikstofcrisis. Maar de strijd zal pas echt beslecht worden in de #provincie, waar vergaand beleid moet worden ontwikkeld: https://t.co/zkZbeX7Z9Z #stikstof

    2022-06-22 09:34:03




  • Vergeet je niet aan te melden voor ons #webinar aanstaande donderdag! Naast @VVD-Kamerlid @erikhaverkort zal ook @BroekhofMartijn van @VNCI aanwezig zijn en in gesprek gaan over de verduurzaming van de industrie👇✅ https://t.co/ocYSWT4T8R

    2022-06-21 14:17:23




  • Luister naar de nieuwe aflevering van onze #pmpodcast ‘In de Lobby’: deze keer over hoe je je invloed in Brussel kunt vergroten, het nut van BNC-fiches en het zoeken naar dubbele spaties 👇 https://t.co/Art8JcfMet #IndeLobby #podcast #lobby #publicaffairs #Brussel https://t.co/OZ6fWbTonX

    2022-06-20 17:07:04




  • In weer een nieuwe aflevering van onze #pmpodcast ‘In de Lobby’ gaat @EULobby in gesprek met @Mendeltje – praktijkprofessor en EU-expert. Luisteren!👇 https://t.co/Art8JcfMet #podcast #Brussel https://t.co/v87Eskr0uM

    2022-06-20 10:42:33




  • De afgelopen weken stonden in de #TweedeKamer in het teken van de #zorg met verstrekkende gevolgen voor #industrie en #patiënt. Toch lijkt de aandacht van de Kamer te verslappen, lees meer hierover via 👇 https://t.co/wW76Q04rmK

    2022-06-16 16:51:36




Public Matters is a leading public affairs & lobby consultancy in the Netherlands and Brussels supporting organisations that seek to influence policy and engage in strategic communications.

Office The Hague
Bezuidenhoutseweg 101
2594 AC Den Haag
+31 (0)70 3046 499

Office Brussels
Avenue des Arts 39
B-1040 Brussel
+ 32 (0)2 502 77 71

Social media

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

info@publicmatters.nl

Four new colleagues join Public Matters Kromkommer and the European School Fruit Scheme
Scroll to top