Universities protested in The Hague two weeks ago. Wageningen’s mayor, Floor Vermeulen (on the right in the navy coat), was also present. Photo HOP The Senate has approved the cabinet’s austerity measures for education and research. Doubts over the legitimacy thereof were not decisive. The Senate failed to perform a political miracle. The universities will take the matter to court.
The vote on the Education, Culture and Science budget in the Senate went as expected. The coalition parties voted in favour, as did the parties with which they had cut a deal: JA21 and the three Christian parties. Senior party 50Plus joined the ranks.
The other parties voted against. The education budget is ‘an attack on the future of our young generation’, said Paul van Meenen (D66) ahead of the vote. ‘That may sound dramatic, but that is what it is.’
Unlawful
Several universities are going to court over the more than 200 million euro cutbacks on starter and stimulus grants. Among them are Tilburg University and Radboud University, says the overarching organisation, Universities of the Netherlands. The previous cabinet signed an administrative agreement with the universities, which included additional funding. That agreement has now been broken. The Senate has also called this into question in the debate on the budget.
Tineke Huizinga (ChristenUnie) stated in her explanation of vote that: ‘The minister has failed to ease my party’s doubt over the lawfulness of terminating the agreement.’ Still, her party supports the budget because the issue of legality is relatively small: 200 million euros out of a 50-billion-euro budget.
Motion
The ChristenUnie, however, supported a motion submitted by the opposition to maintain the administrative agreement. Not much depended on it, the party likely knew the motion would be rejected by the other parties.
This motion aimed to rally the “unholy alliance” of JA21, CDA, SGP and ChristenUnie and, perhaps, other parties to overturn just a small part, rather than the budget in its entirety. The government was requested to ‘implement the administrative agreement without reservations in 2025, and consult with the institutes over possible alterations thereof in the following years.’
Protests
The protests against the policy will continue, and not just in court. Students will demonstrate, the National Student Union says: ‘Budget cuts are affecting our children’s and grandchildren’s futures.’ FNV states: ‘A pitch black day for Dutch education.’ They also call attention to local protests and strikes, such as those taking place in Rotterdam today, in Tilburg on Thursday and in Wageningen on Monday.
There is enough left to fight for. The governing parties are frequently at odds and must now agree on the spring budget with all its windfalls and setbacks.