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Nynke de Zoeten
political reporter
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Nynke de Zoeten
political reporter
Commissioners of the King believe that the cabinet is far too slow in making decisions on important dossiers. They fear that after Wednesday’s Provincial Council elections there will be even more delays due to division. That’s what they say in a round of News hour.
Eight of the twelve Commissioners of the King responded to the survey. All eight provincial administrators believe that they have been waiting far too long for clarity in the nitrogen dossier. Due to the government’s inertia, it seems very unlikely that six of them will be able to achieve the nitrogen target before 2030. In that year, nitrogen emissions must be halved.
Jaap Smit, King’s Commissioner in South Holland, would like to work with the government to achieve the goals, but says that there must be clear agreements and enough money. “The uncertainty and lack of clarity are disastrous for everyone involved. And also disastrous for the reliability of the government.”
The CVDK from Gelderland, John Berends, is not sure whether 2030 is feasible: “The point is that we get to work. We are happy with the proposal to take stock at two moments and wait for that.” He does believe, however, that the central government should give the provinces a stronger role in general, with their own choices and financial resources. “This requires trust in each other. That is often not enough.”
Half of the respondents agree with him that many politicians in The Hague see the provinces too much as an implementation desk of the government.
Difficult formation
Half of the respondents also think that it will become more difficult to form a majority council in their province after the elections. At the moment, for example, there is a so-called extra-parliamentary college in Limburg, without hard coalition agreements. Partly because of the fragmentation, it was impossible to form a majority coalition there.
Smit thinks that the formation in South Holland can become more complicated than previous times. “But I call on the parties to come to an agreement, given the urgent issues that lie on the plate of the province.”
Incidentally, five out of eight do not expect provincial politics to become more polarised. They all expect that politics in The Hague will become more divided.
Spread law
All commissioners also say that the cabinet should hurry up with the distribution law. This law can force municipalities to receive asylum seekers. The provinces will play a coordinating role in this. When asked whether that role should be expanded, the supervisory directors are divided: half think so, half think not.
Jaap Smit warns: “The distribution now proposed – a quarter of the Dutch live in South Holland, so a quarter of the asylum seekers must be received in South Holland – is not realistic.” He says that the province is happy to cooperate, but thinks it is not feasible because South Holland also has to build the largest number of homes.
