Johan Remkes has cited health problems for his decision to step down as chairman of the Groningen gas damage compensaton fund NPG at the beginning of 2025.

Remkes (73), who headed the programme since 2022, did not say what is wrong with him. “My rehabilitation will take some time. It is not like me to do things by halves so I am resigning my post,” he said in a statement.

Former minister and VVD stalwart Remkes is seen as a safe pair of hands in times of political turmoil and has been called on repeatedly to break deadlocks in The Hague.

In 2021 Remkes was called on for the role of informateur to help form the fourth Mark Rutte government after the third collapsed because of the child benefit scandal.

In 2022 he negotiated  between farmers and the government and after that chaired a committee advising the cabinet on the nitrogen pollution crisis.

He was also critical of the VVD’s new leader Dilan Yesilgöz to take the party into a coalition with the far-right PVV.