On Wednesday, 29 October 2025, elections for the House of Representatives will take place in the Netherlands, following relatively shortly after those of Wednesday, 22 November 2023. The subsequently formed Government and House of Representatives will play a major role in shaping the cross-border policy pursued in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands already has a relatively strong history of cross-border cooperation: within the Benelux Union, with the establishment of the first EUREGIO, the inclusion of a Border Effects Check (Grenseffectentoets) in the national policy framework (Beleidskompas), the National Programme for Vital Regions (Nationaal Programma Vitale Regio’s), and various governance structures with neighbouring countries, such as the Flemish-Dutch Summit, the Thelassatop with Belgium, the Netherlands–Lower Saxony cooperation agenda, and the NRW–Netherlands Borderlands Agenda (Grenslandagenda). However, the most recent government term was characterised by less explicit attention to border regions. In the government programme of the Schoof cabinet, the term “border” appeared mainly in the context of asylum and reinforced internal border controls. Only in the Every Region Counts (Elke regio telt) approach was cooperation with neighbouring countries mentioned in tackling border obstacles.
“The border region needs to be more top-of-mind,” was the conclusion of ITEM’s reflection on the 2023 House of Representatives elections and the subsequent Nieuwspoort event. After all, cross-border cooperation and the cross-border development of border regions do not happen automatically; they require ongoing attention and investment. However, this is not a given. This was also evident in the reflections on the 2024 European elections and the 2023 Provincial Council elections. With the upcoming elections, what are the plans of the various political parties at the national level? What do these plans say about cross-border cooperation? What are the effects for the border regions? Are there topics we are missing? In their election programmes, political parties set out their plans for the Netherlands and, directly or indirectly, for the border regions and cross-border cooperation. This Reflection presents the plans of the participating parties in the House of Representatives elections and reflects on them from a cross-border perspective.
