The current and future coalition partners plan to be big spenders in their new term. For the cultural sector, the future holds an extra 170 million euros per year. This is clearly a positive development. However, we must remark that the (admirable) ambitions are still bigger than the budget and that this budget raise is relatively small when compared to the budget increases in other domains.

The coalition of VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie invest billions in climate, energy, and the transition of agriculture – which is both understandable and justified. But if we look at the extra investments in safety (1 billion / year) and the army (3 billion / year), 170 million starts to look like little more than a pity. Especially since the goals and ambitions of the section on culture are truly ambitious. The future govermnent wants to improve the labor market, conceptualize and implement a repair plan, secure regional distribution, invest in new museums, keep art courses in education on a high level, and make sure that every municipality facilitates at least one public library. We fully support these ambitions, but keeping in mind that merely implementing Fair Practice, with the current quantity of cultural programming, will cost an extra 200 million euros per year, the reserved 170 million seems like a very tight sum to realize the set goals.

You can read the whole coalition agreement (in Dutch) here: https://www.kabinetsformatie2021.nl/documenten/publicaties/2021/12/15/coalitieakkoord-omzien-naar-elkaar-vooruitkijken-naar-de-toekomst