Nitrogen policy does not interest ordinary Dutch people at all

The government should pay much less attention to nitrogen policy. This is apparent from research by Ipsos among the Dutch population, commissioned by the NOS. Almost one third of the Dutch think that the government should pay less attention to nitrogen. Only 3% indicate that they find the nitrogen policy important.

Ipsos performs traditional conduct an investigation in the opinion of the Dutch on the eve of Prinsjesdag. The question was asked as to what the most important topics are that the Dutch government believes should be tackled. Nitrogen policy finishes in sixteenth place in this list of priorities with only 3%.

Too much of a good thing
Healthcare (47%), the fight against the corona virus (25%), employment (25%) and climate and sustainability (24%) are among other things considered much more important by the Dutch. On the other hand, nitrogen policy is almost at the top of the list of themes that the Dutch think the government should pay less attention to. After development cooperation (33%), 32% think the current attention for nitrogen policy is too much of a good thing. The attention for Art and Culture, Immigration and Asylum and Defense could also be less, according to the respondents. 

The Dutch are pessimistic about the Netherlands. This year, 59% of the population thinks that the Netherlands is going in the wrong direction. The consequences of the corona crisis obviously play a major role in this. This increases the gloom in our country: in 2017, 41% thought that the Netherlands was going in the wrong direction.

Rutte the ideal prime minister
The corona crisis has a positive effect on support for the cabinet. According to Ipsos, the Dutch give the functioning of the cabinet a 6.2, a lot higher than in previous years. Almost two-thirds of those polled have confidence in Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Almost 6 out of 10 Dutch people see him as the ideal prime minister, including many supporters of PvdA and GroenLinks. 

The supporters of the PVV, Forum for Democracy and to a lesser extent the SP judge Rutte the least favorably, NOS reports. A third of the Dutch think that Hugo de Jonge would be a good prime minister. This puts him in second place after Rutte, followed by Sigrid Kaag (23%), Lodewijk Asscher (22%), Klaas Dijkhoff (20%) and Jesse Klaver (16%).

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.