Netherlands vote pro-Europe

After the victory of the centre-right VVD party led by Mark Rutte in the parliamentary election on 12 September he is now faced with the problem of forming a new government.

The VVD won 41 seats (up from 31) and the centre-left PvdA Labour party won 39 seats (up from 30) out of the 150 in parliament. The big losers were the Greens who went from ten to three seats and the anti-Islamic / anti-immigration / anti-Europe PVV which won 15 seats compared with its previous 24.

The first move will probably be for the VVD and the PvdA to attempt to form a coalition. Both have the same views on the importance of the European Union. However they have different policies on the economy, with the VVD calling for greater austerity and the PvdA for greater growth. They will probably try to involve at least one of the smaller parties in the centre.

The last government led by Rutte fell in April 2012 when the PVV withdrew its support from the government over austerity measures. It could be several months before the next government is formed.