Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of Europe’s oldest leaders, and his cabinet resigned on Friday due to a report that highlighted his government’s systemic failure to protect thousands of families from overzealous tax inspectors.
Mr. Rutte handed over his resignation and that of his entire office to King Willem-Alexander van Oranje, public broadcaster NOS reported.
“Mistakes have been made at all levels that have led to great injustice for thousands of families. Innocent people have been criminalized and their lives destroyed, ”Rutte told a news conference. “This office takes full responsibility.” Rutte said the report that led to the fall of the cabinet was “tough as nails” but “fair”.
The report, the result of an investigation in which Mr. Rutte was also questioned, concluded that an “unprecedented injustice” was committed on innocent families, some of whom were forced to immediately reimburse large amounts of childcare benefits.
In many cases, an administrative error, such as the loss of a subscription, was enough for the tax authority to classify parents as fraudsters and fine families up to tens of thousands of euros, the report says.
“The fundamental principles of the rule of law have been violated,” he concluded, criticizing both the government and Parliament for creating “tough laws”, with little space to consider individual cases fairly.
Rutte and his cabinet will continue to lead the government as interlocutors, with general elections scheduled for March. His center-right is leading the polls, and the other parties in his coalition, which were also affected by the scandal, are unlikely to call previous elections because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Rutte was serving his third term as prime minister and has led the Netherlands since 2010. If his party again gets the largest share of votes in the next election, he could serve a fourth term.
The chairman of the parliamentary commission that led the investigation, Chris van Dam, said the system created to track benefit fraud was “a mass process with no room for nuance”.
In a separate investigation, the Dutch Data Protection Authority concluded that tax inspectors discriminated against citizens with dual nationality.
Former Vice President of the Dutch Council of State, Herman Tjeenk Willink, added to the accusations of systematic failure by calling on parliamentarians to also take responsibility for voting on strict laws.
“They should look in the mirror,” he wrote in an article in the NRC Handelsblad, “and question their own role in this case.”
Insiders expected Rutte to ignore any criticism very easily. “Yes, it is a shame that this happened under the responsibility of Rutte,” said Joost Vullings, a political commentator, “but if anyone knows how not to feel embarrassed, it is our Prime Minister. He’s going full steam ahead to win the next election. ”
Rutte said last month that the tax campaign detailed in the December report was “shameful” and that the government has announced that nearly 10,000 families will each receive compensation of 30,000 euros, or about $ 36,500. Earlier this week, Rutte insisted that the government should not resign because it could weaken the country’s response to the pandemic.
The Netherlands has been battling the coronavirus since March, and its inability to stem the spread of the disease has revealed what many say are over-regulated systemic problems. Like many countries in Europe, the Netherlands is blocked.
A November report ranked the government as the top global tax haven for large corporations, so its search for individuals for relatively small amounts has not gone unnoticed.
This duality and others in Dutch politics highlight the disadvantages of the Dutch poldermodel, a system that submits all important decisions to review by all the institutions, representatives or even individuals involved. The result is always a commitment.
“This case is an example of a systematic error, which arose from our coalition policy, where each party is scoring points for its own supporters,” said Sheila Sitalsing, a commentator for Volkskrant, “but the final compromise becomes impossible to perform for those who have to work with it daily. ”
Sitalsing also said that voters for two decades have rewarded politicians who promise stricter rules. “So this is what you get,” she said of the child benefit scandal.
The families targeted by the tax authority on Tuesday increased pressure on Rutte, calling for his office to be resigned in an open letter published in the Trouw newspaper.
“What needs to be done is clear: everything must be fixed and cleaned,” said a group of families. “We have no faith that the current cabinet will be able to do that.”
In a very unique move in the Netherlands, families filed criminal actions this week against five politicians, including Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Economy Minister Eric Wiebes for their role in the case. If convicted, they face up to six months in prison.
“We filed criminal cases because the victims I represent were ruined, some were left homeless because of these policies. These politicians have been extremely negligent, ”said Vasco Groeneveld, a lawyer representing 20 victims. “Every time I open your files, chills run down my spine. These people were treated terribly. “
Wiebes, who was finance minister in a previous cabinet, will step down immediately and will not remain in the interim government, NOS said.
On Thursday, opposition leader Lodewijk Asscher, a former Minister of Social Affairs, stepped down as leader of the Dutch Labor Party because of his role. His resignation increased pressure on Rutte to reconsider his position.