[5] The coalition accord contained, among other things, more agreements about accelerating the Netherlands' climate ambitions (55% CO2 reduction in 2030), changes to daycare costs, preparation for new nuclear power plants, creation of road pricing (not toll) starting in 2030, accelerated nitrogen reduction (−50% in 2030), more regulation of the rental sector, equalizing pay between grade school and high school teachers, a return of the basic scholarship for students, increase over time of legal minimum wage by 7.5% and more defense spending.
[6] In February 2022, the cabinet offered its apologies to Indonesia for the systematic and extreme violence by Dutch soldiers during the Indonesian war of independence and the subsequent turning of a blind eye by all previous administrations.
[10] This has resulted in people feeling like no real change has happened between governments as the process of rectification has ground to a standstill and there is seemingly no end in sight.
[12] After the fall of the cabinet, it has been characterized by CDA parliamentary leader Pieter Heerma as "irresponsibly harsh" and "bordering on reckless politics".
During the process, it came to light that prime minister Mark Rutte had been wiping the majority of SMS text messages he received on his private phone for years, in violation of the archival legislation.
During the Rutte IV cabinet, compensation was awarded to homeowners whose houses were damaged by gas extraction,[22] but this process has generally not gone smoothly.
[23] On 24 February 2023, a parliamentary inquiry commission determined the government owed a ereschuld("debt of honour") to residents of Groningen and proposed several remedies to alleviate this.
[31][32] Rising energy prices and high inflation impacted the economy of the Netherlands during the term of the government, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent ban on fuel imports from Russia, and greedflation.
[42] According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this was because capacity to house asylum seekers was scaled down after the "Turkey deal".
[44][45] Municipalities were generally found either unwilling or unable to place asylum seeker housing centers (AZCs), in part due to concerns of locals such as "there are too many people" or "why can't it be somewhere else?".
[52] Disagreement about this proposal led to the government's resignation three months later, as Christian Union and Democrats 66 could not abide by the terms demanded by the VVD.
[56] Many opposition parties are hoping this signals the end of Rutte's style of politics in the Netherlands,[13] which has been characterized as neoliberal[57] and closed off from outsiders.
Sigrid Kaag of D66[58] also announced her departure from politics; her reason for this was that death threats she had received had had a heavy negative impact on her and her family.
[59] This has resulted in a failure to reach new labour accords with the trade unions for higher wages and improved working conditions despite record profits for corporations;[60] a failure to reach an accord with the agricultural sector, creating more uncertainty for farmers and uncertainty of attaining the nitrogen targets;[61][13] and prolonging the housing shortage.
[62] Nevertheless, the NRC reported the demissionary status of the cabinet had a more limited impact compared to the past with several ministers introducing new legislative proposals.
[64][65] In the months following the election, three cabinet members of D66 stepped down to pursue other opportunities: State Secretary for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu became CEO of Corendon, Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag returned to diplomacy at the United Nations, and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers left for an unspecified international job.
Former state secretary Steven van Weyenberg succeeded Uslu, but he was picked a month later to fill the Minister of Finance vacancy.