Jetten I cabinet incoming: What expats in the Netherlands need to know

The new Dutch government is to be sworn in on February 23, 2026, in front of the king in The Hague. After the release of the coalition agreement, there has been some controversy surrounding the cabinet’s plans and how they could impact people living in the Netherlands. Here’s what we know about the new Dutch cabinet:

What does the new Dutch cabinet have planned?

D66, VVD and CDA are the three cooperating parties that will form the Jetten I cabinet. In the published coalition agreement, the parties agreed to focus on several key areas. The following are some of the points that could affect internationals who live, work and study in the Netherlands.

Health and social security

While the last government wanted to halve the health insurance deductible (eigen risico), the incoming cabinet plans to raise the deductible instead. Currently, the deductible sits at 385 euros, but this will rise to 460 euros in 2027. On the other hand, people with low incomes will see a higher healthcare allowance. 

Other social security benefits will see changes as well. The unemployment benefit will be available for just one year instead of two, and the different child benefits will be combined into one. 

The coalition also plans to raise the state pension age, something that received heavy criticism from opposition parties and trade unions. The new cabinet wants to raise the age to start receiving the state pension (AOW), which currently stands at 67 years, in line with life expectancy from 2033. 

Also included in the plans is a sugar tax, which would be implemented from 2030. This would see food and drinks with more than 6 percent of sugar become more expensive. 

Housing and transport

Under the coalition agreement, the mortgage interest deduction, which allows homeowners to deduct part of the interest they pay on their mortgage, will remain in place. Before the elections, it looked likely that the tax relief would be scrapped. 

The new government also plans to dedicate 1 billion euros a year to the construction of new housing and make it easier to split and extend existing properties. New tenants for social housing will face a means test to ensure they are actually eligible for affordable housing. Earlier this year, it was revealed that nearly 12.000 people living in social housing own multiple homes, conflicting with the objective. 

When it comes to transport, the coalition wants to keep fuel taxes the same, make public transport easier to get to for cyclists and introduce a minimum age and helmet requirement for fatbikes. 

Asylum and migration

Most of the measures introduced by the previous government for asylum will remain in place, including the dual status system and stricter rules for family reunification. The plans to allow naturalisation only after 10 years of residence for internationals, however, have been scrapped. 

Education

The coalition plans to scrap the foreign language test for new programmes at Dutch universities, while still limiting the number of international students taking popular courses in English. Cuts to education are being shelved for the moment, with 1,5 billion euros to be invested in research and science, according to NOS. 

Defence

An extra 19 billion euros will be dedicated to defence and security “due to growing geopolitical uncertainty”. Armed forces will also be increased to 122.000 people, and residents and businesses will be expected to pay a “freedom contribution” through taxes to fund the higher defence budget. 

What happens next with the new Dutch government?

The new cabinet, consisting of the Dutch Prime Minister, 18 ministers and 10 state secretaries, will get together to draw up the government’s policy statement containing the most important parts of the coalition agreement. The Prime Minister, which will be D66 leader Rob Jetten in this instance, will deliver the statement to the House of Representatives, which will then debate about the content of the statement.

After the new cabinet has gotten its vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), the two groups will work together and discuss the various plans before they are put into practice, keeping in mind that the coalition is a minority cabinet, so it needs support from the opposition. Any new laws also need to go through the Senate (Eerste Kamer), so it is not a given that all the plans from the Dutch government will become a reality.