This is stated in a document that RTL News has in its possession, which would form the basis for negotiations with the opposition. The latter is threatening to vote down the education budget in the Senate if the cabinet is not prepared to undo at least 1.3 billion euros in cuts to education and research.

Counteroffer

The four coalition parties initially refused to hear about it, but came up with a counteroffer of 363 million euros early this week. The so-called “monster alliance” of opposition parties (D66, CDA, JA21, ChristenUnie and SGP) considered this far too meager.

The new counteroffer adds up to 650 million euros. Among other things, cuts in scientific research can be reduced (by 100 million) according to the coalition parties and those in start-up and incentive grants by 50 million.

What the opposition thinks is unknown. This afternoon, negotiations on the OCW budget will resume behind closed doors.