Rutte Set to Clinch Dutch Coalition Agreement Next Week

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Mark Rutte is closing in on a coalition deal after the longest negotiations in Dutch history, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The outline for a fourth Rutte government is expected early next week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks have not yet been made public.

March’s general election consolidated Rutte’s VVD as the Netherlands’ biggest party but a fragmented parliament complicated the coalition math. Negotiations have dragged on ever since, amid a coronavirus crisis that hit the country hard.

The government will likely be sworn in this January. 

Traditionally, the second-largest party takes the finance ministry, meaning that Christian Democrat Wopke Hoekstra won’t keep his job as finance minister. 

That post will most likely be claimed by the pro-European D66 party of Sigrid Kaag -- which has advocated closer ties with France and Germany.

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