The cabinet has held a ‘fundamental discussion’ about the signal voters sent to ministers at the March 15 provincial elections, prime minister Mark Rutte told reporters on Tuesday evening.

Speaking two weeks after the pro-farmers party BBB became the biggest in all of the 12 provinces, Rutte said the four hours of talks with senior ministers had centred on the question ‘is politics something for everyone’ and had concluded that this was not always the case.

Ministers realise that a number of ‘major processes’ need improvement, he said. These included the way the Groningen earthquakes had been dealt with, the childcare benefit scandal and the strategy to deal with nitrogen-based pollution – a key issue in the provincial vote.

In terms of nitrogen, the coalition wanted to get moving immediately, while giving space to farmers and road and housing building programmes, the prime minister said. But he declined to say if the target – halving emissions by 2030 – would be amended.

Other problems, such as the lack of public transport in rural areas, and school choice in the cities, cannot be solved overnight, the prime minister said. But ministers will be talking to each other and to the wider community in the coming weeks, Rutte said, adding that he is convinced the cabinet can find the right answers.

NOS correspondent Xander van der Wulp said the cabinet had given itself work to do. ‘It is clear that the coalition parties want to continue to work together but that does not mean a solution to many problems is any closer,’ he said.