ABSTRACT
The ‘purple’ Coalition Government, formed in 1994, failed to agree about foreign policy. In the special coalition of the social democrats of Party van de Arbeid (PvdA), the right-wing liberals of Volkspatij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) and the left-of-centre liberals of the Democrats 66 (D66), there were disagreements about the remit of development cooperation and defence, and the degree to which Dutch economic self-interest should play a role in foreign policy. A complete review of foreign policy was announced by the Government because more time was needed to reach an agreement. With regard to the Government’s expenditure on development cooperation, the statement mentioned a minimum of 0.7% and a maximum of 0.9% of GNP for ODA. A thorough consideration of the quality of the aid was to provide more clarity about its desired volume. The range of spending for development (0.7–0.9% ) was open to negotiation. The attempts to reach an agreement were based on the idea that foreign policy should be adapted to the current international situation and be able to respond to current issues of conflict control, environmental degradation and population growth. Combating poverty alone was not enough, argued the Coalition Government. More attention should be paid to political factors that influence international cooperation and the Netherlands should redefine its role abroad.
