An "outline agreement", as advocated in Dutch national politics by 'informateur' Herman Tjeenk Willink, has been an emerging trend at the municipal level for years. Lianne van Kalken, lecturer and researcher of Constitutional Law at Erasmus School of Law and councillor in the municipality of Vlaardingen, writes about this in the report Roadmap for council agreements.
Together with Endowed Professor Geerten Boogaard of Leiden University and professor of public administration Martijn van der Steen of Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, van Kalken writes about alternatives to the current coalition agreement in municipal politics. While only 22 municipalities had a "council agreement" in 2014, there were 56 in 2018. In a council agreement, not only the coalition parties set the agenda for the coming years, but the entire municipal council. These council agreements contribute to new administrative relationships, which are in great need due to fragmentation in the political landscape.
The conclusion of council agreements makes changes at the heart of local democracy, the authors say. They gathered information through expert meetings with stakeholders and surveys on experiences from council members who work with a council agreement. What do council members and stakeholders think is positive and what is not? Lianne van Kalken explains in the Volkskrant that, according to council members who work with a council agreement, the opposition versus coalition structure is being broken. This breakthrough also allows the opposition to have a say. Citizen participation is also often part of a council agreement. This new way of doing politics leads to more collective ambition, constructive instead of polarized cooperation and a greater sense of responsibility among all those involved. While politics is often about differences, council members experience that a council agreement is based on the similarities in what everyone does and does not want. But it also appears that it is not always easy to maintain the new method for four years. The agreement can remain vague because there are too many voices and themes that have been introduced; the council does not always come to a solution anymore.
The Roadmap from the report makes the unwritten rules of this "pioneering work" explicit. According to client Henk Bouwmans, director of the Dutch Association for Council members, the Roadmap provides solutions when working with the council agreement goes wrong. This Roadmap makes the process more transparent for everyone, including towards the 2022 municipal elections. According to Bouwmans, they can learn something from this in national politics.