Parliament is in recess the coming week and that means work on putting together a new coalition government has been slowed until May 6 when the final phase will begin.

The four parties, who have been negotiating for five months with several long breaks, will use the next few days to prepare for the last week of talks, insiders say.

The final week is when “political trading” will take place over the more controversial issues and when the “financial puzzle” will be put together, Richard van Zwol, one of the two people leading the negotiations, said. 

Only at that point, he said, will it become apparent if this latest effort to mesh the four parties into a cohesive cabinet has worked.

Before then, however, the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB will have to finalise several key policy issues and sort out the money.

The four parties remain divided on dealing with the manure mountain and reducing immigration and on Thursday night the VVD and BBB voted against new legislation to extend rent controls which are backed by the PVV and NSC. 

Some issues have been finalised. The parties have apparently agreed to make sure the budget deficit does not exceed 2.8% and to cut €200 million from the public broadcasting system budget. They are also thought to agree on raising the maximum speed limit on the roads back to 130 kph and cutting the own risk element in health insurance. 

Immigration and asylum are likely to be the biggest stumbling point. Earlier this month PVV leader Geert Wilders walked out of the talks, saying the discussions were at a standstill and he was not prepared to compromise any further. 

“Without a tough package of measures there will be no cabinet,” he told reporters. NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt has also suggested that “if we can agree on asylum, then I think were are agreed on everything.”

The negotiators have pledged to present their report on the latest round of talks to MPs on May 15.