The formation of a Dutch cabinet is the process of negotiating an agreement that will get majority support in parliament for the appointment of the council of ministers and gives sufficient confidence that agreed policies will be supported by parliament. Dutch cabinet formations tend to be a time-consuming process, and the process is for the most part not codified in the constitution.
Formation process
The cabinet of the Netherlands is the executive body of the Dutch government. It consists of ministers and junior ministers, or state secretaries (staatssecretaris) as they are called in the Netherlands. The cabinet requires support from both chambers of the Dutch parliament to pass laws. Thus to form a stable government sufficient, and preferably majority support in both chambers is required.
Due to several factors—the multi-party system and the nationwide party-list system of proportional representation—no political party (in the modern sense) has ever had a majority in the House of Representatives since 1900. Indeed, since the adoption of the current proportional representation system in 1918, no party has even come close to the number of seats needed for a majority in its own right. To gain sufficient support in both chambers, at least two parties must agree to form a government with majority support. The negotiations leading to this agreement are the cabinet formation period in the Netherlands.
Cabinet formation is engaged in, in two situations. After each general election, the incumbent cabinet resigns, but continues in a caretaker role until a new cabinet is formed. Due to changing party representations in the House of Representatives, a new cabinet has to be negotiated. Even if the same parties that were part of the previous government continue in office, the agreement has to be renegotiated to fit election promises and shift in powers. Another reason for cabinet formation can be the fall of a cabinet, i.e., those cases where the agreement between parties breaks down. In the latter case (in principle) a new cabinet can be formed without general elections, although in practice the House of Representatives is almost always disbanded and early general elections are called.
Advice
First, the leaders of all the elected parties meet with the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint a 'scout'. Next, the scout meets with the chairs of each parliamentary party in the House of Representatives, the political leaders of all parties. The talks concern how to interpret the election results and on which parties should form the new cabinet.
Information phase
On basis of this advice, the House of Representatives then appoints an informateur who explores the options for a new cabinet. The informateur often is a relative outsider and a veteran politician who has retired from active politics: a member of the Senate, Council of State or a minister of state. The informateur generally has a background in the largest party in the House of Representatives. It is also possible to appoint multiple informateurs, with backgrounds in other prospective partners. The informateur is given a specific task by the House of Representatives, often to "seek a coalition of parties with coalition agreement and a majority in parliament." The informateur has meetings with individual chairs of parliamentary parties, and chairs sessions of negotiations between them. During these negotiations the parties try to find compromises on the policies of the future government and draft a coalition agreement.
Formation phase
Unsuccessful informateurs tenders their resignation and the process starts again, with new consultations and the appointment of a new informateur. If successful, the informateur will advise the House of Representatives to appoint a formateur. By convention, the formateur is the leader of the senior partner in the prospective coalition, and hence the prospective prime minister. The formateur concludes the talks between the members of the prospective coalition, focusing on any matters left unresolved by the informateur. Once these matters are resolved, the formateur allocates the government portfolios and nominates cabinet members.