Foreign policy cuts are not free money. So at least map out the consequences properly. 

These weeks, foreign policy is at the centre of debates in the Dutch parliament. Members of parliament are discussing the historic cuts in development cooperation and Dutch diplomatic clout. While the consequences of almost every other cut are calculated to the last decimal point, this is not the case with foreign policy. This is risky, because these major cuts will not only affect people in vulnerable situations abroad. They also damage our own economy, security and safety. So the government needs to stop pretending that this is free money and properly map out the consequences of these large-scale cuts. 

First the numbers. Between 2025 and 2029, the Schoof government will cut more than €10 billion from development cooperation and €267 million from diplomacy. This austerity operation is therefore historically large. This is the result of the coalition agreement between the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB and of decisions in the latest budget documents. For example, the cabinet has gone beyond the coalition agreement and made a substantial additional cut in development cooperation. This is the result of the historic decision not to allow the development cooperation budget to grow in line with economic growth for the first time in 50 years. 

Abroad, the cuts will mainly affect marginalised people in low-income countries. For example, we know that when the British government made significant cuts in development cooperation, the consequences were disastrous, especially in the lowest-income countries. For example, the UK prevented 60 per cent fewer mothers from dying in childbirth and 550,000 children were unable to go to school. And the £17 million cut to a social safety net fund in Ethiopia immediately deprived 350,000 people of vital financial and food assistance. 

But the cuts will also have major consequences closer to home. After all, a third of our collective income is earned abroad. Development cooperation contributes directly to this, as civil servants calculated in 2014, when cuts were also made. For every euro of assistance to partner countries, Dutch exports increased by 70 to 90 cents. The added value for our economy was 40 to 55 cents per euro of assistance, which resulted in around 15,000 jobs at the time. The substantial cuts in development cooperation are therefore costing us jobs and income. 

The cuts also weaken the Netherlands’ position and influence on the world stage at a strategic level. Whether it is security, conflict prevention or human rights, these commitments require more and more capacity. In the latest budget, the government itself states that the Netherlands ‘should stand up more actively for its interests and values’ as ‘the economic and demographic centre of gravity in the world’ shifts east and south. 

The previous government also emphasised the growing importance of partnerships with emerging countries in Asia and Africa. Think of the access to strategic raw materials from Africa that we will desperately need for the energy transition. Or containing the growing number of wars in the regions around Europe, which are damaging our important trade. The budget, which is currently being cut, is an important instrument for responding to these developments. 

In short, cuts in the Netherlands’ international involvement are not free. To pretend that they are is to ignore the fact that our economy, our security and our very existence depend to a large extent on other countries. The least this cabinet can do is to properly map out the consequences of the budget cuts. Then politics can do its job and, if it wishes, limit the negative consequences. If you do not want to do this for people who have to deal with war, crisis and exclusion on a daily basis, then do it out of a well understood self-interest. This is not only a gesture of humanity, but also of good governance. 

Written by: Jochem Duinhof – Political Advisor at Dorcas and Bas Bijlsma – Executive Director & Founder of Data for Peace and Security.

11 November 2024