Insight
What the Dutch elections mean for the Netherlands and for Europe by Armida van Rij and Sander Tordoir, 5 November 2025 Last week, the Dutch electorate voted for the third time in five years. After just 11 months of governing, the highly unstable coalition government which included the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) and populist Farmers Party (BBB) collapsed, marking the end of a cabinet which despite its huge electoral mandate, achieved very little. The campaign period was marked by instances of far-right political violence in The Hague and Amsterdam, bringing to the fore the grim mood in Dutch politics. And yet, despite this backdrop, Rob Jetten, with his cheerful smile and ‘we can do it’ slogan – taken directly from Obama’s 2008 campaign – led his social-liberal D66 party to significant electoral gains. Both D66 and the PVV won 26 out of the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, becoming the biggest parties by seat numbers. The results put Jetten on course to try to form a four-party centrist coalition. While this will not be easy, such a government would arrive at a pivotal moment: Europe needs a functional, outward-looking Netherlands to loosen chokeholds on its internal growth, anchor Europe’s industrial and security strategy, and defend Dutch interests that ultimately rely on deeper European integration. In this insight, CER analysts Armida van Rij and Sander Tordoir decipher what the election results mean for The Netherlands and Europe more broadly.
CER INSIGHT: WHAT THE DUTCH ELECTIONS MEAN FOR THE NETHERLANDS AND FOR EUROPE 5 November 2025
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