New Dutch coalition government headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte sworn in

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has sworn in coalition government Rutte on Thursday afternoon 14 October 2010. The new government consists of 12 Ministers and eight Junior Ministers.

The new coalition is formed by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA), supported by a parliamentary support agreement with the Freedom Party (PVV).

The number of government members has been reduced from 27 to 20, with six Liberaland six Christian Democrat Ministers, as well as eight Junior Ministers, four from each party. 

New Ministries
The new government also reduces the number of Ministries from 13 to 11. The Ministries of Economic Affairs and Agriculture are combined in a new Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment are joint in a new Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. Housing and the Dutch Government Building Department will fall under the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

The third new Ministry will be the Ministry of Safety and Justice.

Besides the 11 Ministers for each department, there will be a Minister for Immigration and Asylum Policy. This Minister will be located at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation
As of now the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency will be an operational unit of this newly formed Ministry. The Ministry will be headed by Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Maxime Verhagen, and Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Henk Bleker.

Minister Verhagen, Minister Bleker and former Minister of Economic Affairs Van der Hoeven signing the formal transfer documents at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
Photo: Jeroen van der Meyde

14 October 2010