Real-life soap opera in The Hague continues and what to expect from a right-wing government. School times are a-changing, while a neo-Nazi sets up his own lebensborn project. Finally Clooney sex scene saves a sleepy European film.

Government formation turns into soap opera
The formation of the Dutch coalition turned into a real-life soap opera on Tuesday, as the free market liberal VVD, the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the Freedom Party (PVV) decided they wanted to continue talks after all.

Unfortunately according to Trouw, VVD leader Mark Rutte had completely forgotten protocol. On Monday he informed Queen Beatrix that he wanted to write a concept policy document on his own. But a day later just before a debate on the collapse of last week’s coalition talks, he announced they could continue, now that Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders had changed his mind. Apparently after sleeping on it, Mr Wilders had decided the resignation of dissident Christian Democrat Ab Klink had restored his faith in his negotiation partners.

This left the queen in a bizarre situation with a pile of useless recommendations after spending two days consulting party leaders, without being officially informed of the latest development. Trouw consults constitutional expert Jan Vis, “If you want to become prime minister you have to take constitutional politeness into account.”

Mr Rutte came in for a lot of criticism during yesterday’s debate. Christian Union leader Andre Rouvoet said he had “treated the head of state with contempt”.

It is not surprising then that Queen Beatrix has put her foot on the brake and appointed her most important adviser, vice-president of the Council of State Tjeenk Willink, to hold a short round of talks with all party leaders rather than allow Mr Rutte to continue. Not that it will make any difference, judging by the body language in the photos of the three would-be formation partners. Mark Rutte, Maxime Verhagen and Geert Wilders appeared to spend the whole debate whispering in each other’s ears.

What to expect from a right-wing government
The latest development in the coalition formation saga appears to have prompted some of the papers to speculate on the contents of the coalition agreement so far. De Telegraaf reports that maximum road speeds will be increased to 130 kilometres per hour. The Freedom Party even wants to raise speed limits to 140 kilometres per hour. The measures would of course depend on air quality, safety and congestion, but they are based on plans already put forward by caretaker transport minister Camiel Eurlings. Proposals by the same minister to introduce a per-kilometre charge to tackle congestion will be scrapped.

The right-wing coalition supported by the Freedom Party reportedly also wants to tighten drugs policies. Under a right-wing government, the import and export of soft drugs will be penalised just has severely as hard drugs. A system of identification passes would be introduced to prevent drugs tourism, and the Freedom Party wants minimum penalties introduced for drug offenders to prevent them getting off lightly.

Meanwhile, de Volkskrant consults a professor of migration law, Peter Rodrigues, on alleged plans to restrict migration. He warns that the proposed measures will lead to clashes between lawmakers and the judiciary. Many of the suggestions to deport criminals with a second passport and tighten the rules surrounding the family reunion actually contravene European and International law. In fact the Netherlands has already violated stipulations in human rights legislation. Professor Rodrigues says the only way to introduce stricter regulations would be to actually leave the European Union.

School times are a-changing
Dutch primary school children could see their school times changing. According to AD, school boards are optimistic that 500 schools will change over to “times which better suit today’s society”. In other words, hours that make is easier to fit working hours around school timetables.

The idea is to have five equally long days, instead of children having Wednesday afternoons off which is currently common practice. For the rest of the afternoon, children would go to after-school care. Critics fear the new measure is being introduced for the sake of the parents, rather than the needs of the children being central. But, according to de Telegraaf, parents are not looking forward to these changes, as many of them have already organised their hours to fit in with their children’s school days.

AD writes that school parent committees have their reservations too about a 8-2 timetable. One head teacher explains, “Research shows that children learn best between 10.00 and 12. 00 and 14.30 and 16.30.”

However, employers are so keen on the new idea that they are even preparing changes in secondary labour agreements.

Neo-Nazi donates sperm for lebensborn project
The news that a neo-Nazi has donated sperm to fertility clinics, demanding that it only be used for white families, has caused a bit of a stir in the papers. According to de Volkskrant, the man explained on a neo-Nazi internet forum that he was trying to bring as many Aryan children as possible into the world for a Lebensborn project.

Trouw asks how far do the rights of a donor go? According to EU guidelines, donors “have to act out of altruistic motives”. But this guideline can be interpreted in different ways. While the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam and two other clinics accepted the sperm, the University Medical Centre in Utrecht didn’t see him again. 

A spokesperson for a hospital in Arnhem explained that his Lebensborn motive only became apparent later on and the sperm was destroyed after a Dutch television programme broke the news. The spokesperson says “We don’t need this kind of donor.”

But the head of a clinic in Brabant doesn’t have any such qualms about the donor’s motives. “Some donors may have difficulty with a coloured child standing on the doorstep after 16 years. Besides it is usually the people receiving the sperm that make the demands.” He dismisses the ethical argument, calling the Lebensborn idea a load of nonsense, as the neo-nazi donor could only have reached 10 families. “Spreading sperm is not the same as spreading hate.”

Star power and sex sell sleepy European film
Dutch filmmaker Anton Cobijn’s latest film has unexpectedly taken the US by storm. According to de Volkskrant, The American was apparently the most watched film in the US last weekend, almost earning back its 20 million dollar investment since the première.

In spite of its success the film critics describe it as a pretentious European sleep remedy. Billed as a 1970s action thriller with George Clooney as a super hero, the Americans who went to see it felt misled. In reality, superstar Clooney has little to say alongside a cast of unknown actors in a story which seems to have lost the plot.

However the slow plot is apparently redeemed by the one daring sex scene. When heartthrob Clooney takes his kit off and shows he is still in top form, there are apparently only three words to describe it: “Oh my God!”