Fourth Balkenende cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the fourth Balkenende cabinet on 22 February 2007
Date formed	22 February 2007 (2007-02-22)
Date dissolved	14 October 2010 (2010-10-14) 3 years, 234 days in office (demissionary from 20 February 2010 (2010-02-20))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Beatrix
Head of government	Jan Peter Balkenende
Deputy head of government	Wouter Bos André Rouvoet
No. of ministers	16
Ministers removed	7
Totalno. of members	19
Member party	Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)   Labour Party (PvdA)   Christian Union (CU)
Status in legislature	Centristmajority government (Grand coalition)
History
Election	2006 election
Outgoing election	2010 election
Legislature terms	2006–2010
Incoming formation	2006–2007 formation
Outgoing formation	2010 formation
Predecessor	Third Balkenende cabinet
Successor	First Rutte cabinet

Thefourth Balkenende cabinet was theexecutive branch of theGovernment of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. Thecabinet was formed by theChristian-democraticChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) andChristian Union (CU) and thesocial-democraticLabour Party (PvdA) after theelection of 2006. The cabinet was acentristgrand coalition and had a slimmajority in theHouse of Representatives withChristian Democratic LeaderJan Peter Balkenende serving asprime minister.Labour LeaderWouter Bos served asDeputy Prime Minister andMinister of Finance whileSocial Christian LeaderAndré Rouvoet served as Deputy Prime Minister andMinister without Portfolio for Health, Welfare and Sport.

The cabinet served during the unstable late 2000s; domestically it had to deal with the2008 financial crisis and major reforms to theeducation system, while internationally, it had to deal with thewar on terror and the government support for theTask Force Uruzgan. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations. The cabinet fell prematurely on 20 February 2010 after the Labour Party refused to support an extension of the Task Force Uruzgan mission with the Labour Party cabinet members resigning on 23 February 2010, and the cabinet continued in ademissionary capacity until it was replaced after theelection of 2010.

Following the fall of theSecond Balkenende cabinet on 30 June 2006 theDemocrats 66 (D66) left the coalition and theChristian Democratic Appeal and thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) formed arump cabinet. TheThird Balkenende cabinet was installed on 7 July 2006 and served as acaretaker government until theelection of 2006 on 22 November 2006. After theelection theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) of incumbent Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende was the winner of the election but lost 3 seats and had now a total of 41 seats. TheLabour Party (PvdA) ofWouter Bos lost 9 seats and had now 33 seats. TheSocialist Party (SP) ofJan Marijnissen was the biggest winner with 16 new seats and had now 25 seats. Two new parties won representation in theHouse of Representatives, the recently foundedParty for Freedom (PVV) ofGeert Wilders, a formerMember of the House of Representatives for thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy won nine seats and theParty for the Animals (PvdD) ofMarianne Thieme, a notedanimal rights activist won two seats, the first time ananimal advocacy party won representation in a national legislative body.

On 25 November 2006Queen Beatrix appointedMember of the Council of StateRein Jan Hoekstra (CDA) asInformateur. Hoekstra explored the possibilities for the different three party coalitions, since no two parties could form a majority in theHouse of Representatives together. This resulted in a coalition agreement between theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA),Labour Party (PvdA) and theChristian Union (CU), together these three parties had 79 seats out of 150 seats in theHouse of Representatives.^[1]

On 20 December 2006Queen Beatrix appointed formerChairman of the Social-Economic CouncilHerman Wijffels (CDA) asInformateur to start the second information round and negotiate acoalition agreement between theLeader of the Christian Democratic AppealJan Peter Balkenende, theLeader of the Labour PartyWouter Bos and theLeader of the Christian UnionAndré Rouvoet. On 7 February 2007 a coalition was reached with the motto of the agreement:"Samen leven, samen werken" ("Living together, working together"). On 9 February 2007Queen Beatrix appointed incumbent Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende (CDA) asFormateur to start the last phase of the formation.^[2] On 22 February the cabinet members were sworn in byQueen Beatrix.

The coalition agreement titled "Living together, working together" was presented on 7 February in a press conference by Balkenende, Bos, Rouvoet. It is structured into six commitments of the new cabinet. If a proposal was included in a party's electoral manifesto, this is mentioned as well.^[3][4]

• An active and constructive role in the world, which is characterized by these policies:
  • Continued investments into theJoint Strike Fighter (as the CDA proposed).
  • The new cabinet is not in favour of a new referendum on theEuropean Constitution, which was voted down in2005, but will consider new initiatives (both the CDA and CU opposed the referendum initially).
• An innovative, competitive and entrepreneurial economy, which is characterized by these policies:
  • 1 billion increased spending on education (as all parties proposed).
  • Privatization ofSchiphol airport is shelved (as the CU and the PvdA proposed).
• A durable environment, which is characterized by these policies:
  • 800 million euros additional spending onrenewable energy (as both the PvdA and the CU proposed).
  • Pollution will be taxed more heavily (as both the PvdA and the CU proposed).
  • A tax on airline tickets totalling 350 million euros (as all parties proposed).
  • No new investments innuclear energy (as the CU and the PvdA proposed).
• Social cohesion, which is characterized by these policies:
  • A reform of the system of basicstate pensions: people who have private pensions of 15,000 euros and higher and who stop working before the age of 65 will pay an additional tax as of 2011. People who work beyond 65 receive tax breaks. This measure should guarantee an affordable basicstate pension (AOW) despite trends inpopulation ageing (a compromise between the PvdA, which wanted to tax all rich elderly and the CDA which wanted incentives to make people work longer).
  • Public social housing will not be liberalised, rent rates may be raised only in line with inflation (as the PvdA proposed).
  • The tax deduction on mortgage interest payments remains unchanged (as the CDA proposed).
  • Investments in problem areas in the large cities to make them "beautiful neighbourhoods" (as the PvdA proposed).
  • Re-implementation of the subsidized jobs-scheme for theunemployed (as the PvdA proposed).
  • Childcare spending totalling 700 million euros (free child care was a PvdA election promise and opposed by CDA).
• Safety, stability and respect, which is characterized by these policies:
  • Reduction of all crimes by 25%.
  • A ban onburqas and other face covering clothing for security reasons (as the CDA proposed).
• Government and a servile public sector^[5]
  • In response to opposition to extravagant wages earned by some top civil servants and top-level managers ofquangos, sometimes five times that of the prime minister, no one will be allowed an income greater than the prime minister's. To accomplish this, the prime minister's salary will be increased.
  • Cutting the number of civil servants to save 750 million euros.
  • Women seeking anabortion are to expect an additional waiting period between first consultation and actual procedure on top of the already mandatory five days waiting period (as the CU proposed).
  • Minor reforms of the health care-system, including the abolishment of theno claim and the re-inclusion of dental care into the basic insurance.
  • Increased taxation on cigarettes andliquor, smoke-free bars and restaurants by 2011.
  • A general pardon for asylum seekers who entered the Netherlands before the new Asylum Law came into effect (as both the CU and the PvdA proposed).
  • The coalition wants to have a budget surplus of 1% of the GDP by 2011 with a projected 2% annual economic growth (as all parties proposed).

In February 2010,NATO had officially requested the Netherlands to extend its military involvement inTask Force Uruzgan, theISAF operation in the Afghan province ofUruzgan, aimed at training Afghan security forces and transfer of responsibilities to the local authorities.^[6][7][8] Coalition party PvdA strongly opposed the extension of the mission.^[9][10][11] The collision between the government and the parliament, of which the majority disagreed with an extension of the mission, as well as between the coalition partners in the cabinet, threatened the existence of the cabinet^[12] and led to its fall in the night between 19 and 20 February 2010, after 16 hours of deliberations between the cabinet members. The Labour members resigned from the cabinet.^{[13][14][15][16]}

As queen Beatrix was on holiday in Austria (Lech am Arlberg) at the time, Balkenende informed her formally by phone about the break-up of the cabinet. She returned soon to The Hague and held consultations with advisors and with the leaders of all political groupings in parliament on 22 and 23 February. On the latter day, the queen accepted the resignations of the PvdA ministers and secretaries, and maintained the 15 remaining cabinet members of CDA and Christian Union (whose positions had also been offered to the queen for consideration, a customary procedure in the Netherlands) to run ademissionary cabinet (caretaker government), which meant that it could not make large decisions or proposals on topics deemed controversial. No new cabinet members were appointed, the already functioning ministers and state secretaries taking care of the empty positions until a new government would be formed.Early elections were held on 9 June 2010. Thecabinet formation started a day later.^{[citation needed]}

Labour leader Wouter Bos, who resigned as deputy prime minister and finance minister, announced that he wanted to continue to lead his party. Labour Party leader Bos denied that the upcoming local elections in the Netherlands played a role in the decision to refuse to compromise on a possible extension of the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan.^[17]

Ministers

Ministers		Title/Ministry		Term of office		Party
				Begin	End
	Jan Peter Balkenende	Prime Minister	General Affairs	22 July 2002[Retained]	14 October 2010	CDA
	Wouter Bos	Deputy Prime Minister	Finance	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
		Minister
	André Rouvoet	Deputy Prime Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CU
		Minister
		Minister	Education, Culture and Science	23 February 2010	14 October 2010
	Guusje ter Horst	Minister	Interior and Kingdom Relations	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Ernst Hirsch Ballin			23 February 2010	14 October 2010	CDA
		Minister	Justice	22 September 2006[Retained]	14 October 2010
	Maxime Verhagen	Minister	Foreign Affairs	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
		Minister		23 February 2010	14 October 2010
	Jan Kees de Jager	Minister	Finance	23 February 2010	14 October 2010[Continued]	CDA
	Maria van der Hoeven	Minister	Economic Affairs	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Eimert van Middelkoop	Minister	Defence	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CU
		Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	23 February 2010	14 October 2010
	Ab Klink	Minister	Health, Welfare and Sport	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Piet Hein Donner	Minister	Social Affairs and Employment	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Ronald Plasterk	Minister	Education, Culture and Science	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Camiel Eurlings	Minister	Transport and Water Management	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Gerda Verburg	Minister	Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Jacqueline Cramer	Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Tineke Huizinga			23 February 2010	14 October 2010	CU

Minister without portfolio

Minister		Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office		Party
					Begin	End
	Bert Koenders	Minister	Foreign Affairs	•Development Cooperation	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Ella Vogelaar	Minister	Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment	•Integration • Public Housing •Minorities	22 February 2007	14 November 2008[Res]	PvdA
	Eberhard van der Laan				14 November 2008	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA

State Secretaries

State Secretary		Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office		Party
					Begin	End
	Ank Bijleveld	State Secretary	Interior and Kingdom Relations	•Kingdom Relations •Municipalities •Provinces •Emergency Management	22 February 2007	14 October 2010	CDA
	Frans Timmermans	State Secretary [Title]	Foreign Affairs	•European Union •Benelux	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Jan Kees de Jager	State Secretary	Finance	•Fiscal Policy •Tax and Customs •Governmental Budget	22 February 2007	23 February 2010 [App]	CDA
	Nebahat Albayrak	State Secretary	Justice	•Immigration and Asylum •Penitentiaries	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Frank Heemskerk	State Secretary [Title]	Economic Affairs	•Trade and Export •Small and Medium-sized Businesses • Consumer Protection •Telecommunication •Postal Service •Tourism [Title]	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Cees van der Knaap	State Secretary	Defence	•Human Resources •Equipment	22 February 2007[Retained]	18 December 2007[App]	CDA
	Jack de Vries				18 December 2007	18 May 2010[Res]	CDA
	Jet Bussemaker	State Secretary	Health, Welfare and Sport	•Elderly care •Disability policy •Medical ethics •Sport	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Ahmed Aboutaleb	State Secretary	Social Affairs and Employment	• Social Security • Unemployment •Occupational Safety • Social Services	22 February 2007	18 December 2008[App]	PvdA
	Jetta Klijnsma				18 December 2008	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Marja van Bijsterveldt	State Secretary	Education, Culture and Science	•Secondary Education	22 February 2007	23 February 2010	CDA
				•Higher Education •Secondary Education •Science Policy •Media •Culture •Art •Emancipation	23 February 2010	14 October 2010
	Sharon Dijksma			•Primary Education •Special Education •Preschool	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[Res]	PvdA
	Tineke Huizinga	State Secretary	Transport and Water Management	•Public Transport •Water Management •Weather Forecasting	22 February 2007	23 February 2010[App]	CU

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^{Designated with the diplomatic rank of Minister}

^{Appointed as Minister of Finance}

^{Appointed as Mayor of Ede}

^{Appointed as Mayor of Rotterdam}

^{Appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment}

• Six cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors:Jan Peter Balkenende (Christian Theology),Guusje ter Horst (Dental Medicine),Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Constitutional and Administrative Law),Ronald Plasterk (Molecular Genetics),Jacqueline Cramer (Environmental Studies) andJet Bussemaker (Political Science).
• Seven cabinet members (later) served as Mayor: Guusje ter Horst (Nijmegen),Eberhard van der Laan (Amsterdam),Ank Bijleveld (Hof van Twente),Cees van der Knaap (Ede),Ahmed Aboutaleb (Rotterdam),Jetta Klijnsma (The Hague) andMarja van Bijsterveldt (Schipluiden and Delft).
• Ten cabinet members would later have other high-profile work, in the public sector:Wouter Bos (Dutch Investment Agency),André Rouvoet (Healthcare Insurance association) andMaxime Verhagen (Construction association), in the private sector:Jan Kees de Jager (KPN) andAb Klink (VGZ Cooperative), and international functions:Maria van der Hoeven (International Energy Agency),Gerda Verburg (Food and Agriculture Organization),Bert Koenders (United Nations),Frans Timmermans (European Commission) andFrank Heemskerk (World Bank Group).

Official

• (in Dutch)Kabinet-Balkenende IV Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch)Kabinet-Balkenende IV Rijksoverheid

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