The government has shunned any serious attempts at structural economic reform

The agreement is long on heavy-handed police tactics as a response to crime-ridden ethnically mixed neighbourhoods, but has nothing to say about poor infrastructure, school drop-out rates, skills shortages and low social mobility among both immigrants and natives in such areas.

More surprisingly, the government has shunned any serious attempts at structural economic reform. Mark Rutte, leader of the VVD and prime minister-in-waiting, campaigned on a pledge to revitalise the Dutch economy. But no substantial effort will be made to reform either the labour market or the inflated government-subsidised housing market. The generous pension system will remain, and the pension age will creep up by just a year, from 65 to 66, and then not until 2020.

The Economist vleegt de voer aan met het nieuwe regeerakkoord (geciteerd door de Nederlandse ScienceGuide).