Irony as Dutch government resigns over division on deficit

THe Dutch government, one of the biggest critics of European countries failing to rein in their budgets, has resigned after disagreeing on a plan to bring its own deficit in line with EU rules.

By The Newsroom

Published 24th Apr 2012, 07:00 BST

Queen Beatrix accepted the resignation of prime minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet yesterday after a meeting in which he told her talks on a new austerity package had failed over the weekend.

Mr Rutte will address parliament today to discuss interim measures to keep public finances in order and schedule new elections.

The Netherlands has been one of the few European countries, along with Germany, to maintain an AAA credit rating.

The collapse came a day after the first-round election victory of France’s soft-on-austerity socialist candidate Francois Hollande and emerged as figures revealed Spain’s economy contracted 0.4 per cent, pushing it back into recession.

Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy has already pushed through labour market and financial sector reforms, taken drastic deficit-reduction measures, and warned things will get worse before they get better.

Monsieur Ordinaire has it all to lose: Page 13.

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