Three Dutch parties have agreed a coalition deal that would deliver a minority government, an unusual outcome in a system normally built around majority coalitions.
The liberal, pro-European Democrats 66 (D66), which emerged as the largest party in the October 2025 general election, will join with the conservative Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the right-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Together they command 66 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, ten short of the 76 needed for a majority.
Rob Jetten, the 38-year-old leader of D66, is expected to become prime minister. He said negotiators had reached agreement on the main points and would now finalise the text before presenting it publicly on Friday, 30 January.
The parties plan to ask their parliamentary groups to endorse the agreement in the next few days. The House of Representatives is then expected to appoint a formateur to assemble the cabinet, a role that typically goes to the prospective prime minister as leader of the largest coalition party.
Dutch broadcaster NOS has reported that the incoming cabinet could be sworn in by King Willem-Alexander on Monday, 23 February, although the date remains provisional. The next phase of talks will focus on portfolios and recruiting ministers and state secretaries. NOS said CDA leader Henri Bontenbal does not want a cabinet post, and it is unclear whether VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz will return to government.
Minority status is likely to shape how the government legislates. The Dutch Senate can block bills passed by the lower house and the three parties do not have a majority there either, increasing the need for issue-by-issue agreements with opposition parties. The coalition would have to seek backing beyond its ranks to pass key measures.
Minority cabinets are not the Dutch norm. Leiden University researchers noted this month that they usually become an option only after attempts to form a majority coalition break down.
The party leaders have so far given limited detail about policy. NOS reported that the agreement includes “large investments” in defence and plans to invest “in the Netherlands itself”, alongside a fiscal approach intended to avoid shifting debt to future generations. The three leaders also spoke of making “clear choices” while keeping an “outstretched hand” towards parties outside the coalition.
Once the text is published, attention is expected to move to how the coalition will assemble parliamentary majorities. In practice that can mean negotiating support in advance for budgets and flagship bills, or building ad hoc coalitions around individual measures.
The coalition partners have signalled that cooperation will be essential. NOS reported that Ms Yeşilgöz said a new cabinet would bring forward plans that the largest opposition group, the GroenLinks–Labour (GL–PvdA) alliance, could support. In the current House of Representatives, GL–PvdA has 20 seats.
The route to this point reflects the fragmented outcome of the 2025 election. In October D66 was confirmed as the election winner after a close contest, with Mr Jetten positioned to lead coalition talks but needing multiple partners to govern.
The lower house is divided among 15 parliamentary groups, and early attempts to form a coalition under the election winner failed to gain momentum.
The decision to proceed as a minority coalition follows months of talks in which several combinations were explored. Reuters reported earlier this month that mainstream parties declined to cooperate with Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party (PVV), while other potential partners were ruled out for political or policy reasons.
Mr Wilders’s party has also faced internal turbulence. On 20 January, Reuters reported that seven PVV lawmakers quit the party’s parliamentary group to form their own faction, changing the balance among opposition parties.
For Mr Jetten, the immediate test will be whether the coalition can secure reliable support for budgets and priority bills, while maintaining internal discipline and negotiating with parties outside government. If the February timetable holds, the Netherlands will have a new cabinet in place before the spring parliamentary session gathers pace, but with parliamentary arithmetic that leaves every major vote uncertain.
