Dutch support for the European Union’s rearmament programme is set to come under the spotlight again after right-wing party JA21 tabled a motion calling for the government to “take an active stance against Eurobonds”.

Coalition party leaders held crisis talks last week with prime minister Dick Schoof after three of the parties in government backed an an earlier JA21 motion against using borrowing to fund the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan.

The Dutch cannot block the scheme after Schoof and the other 26 national leaders gave it the green light at a specially convened summit in Brussels two weeks ago.

But the PVV, BBB and NSC parties, who voted for the JA21 motion, only backed down after Schoof agreed to take a critical stance on the financial aspects.

The Netherlands will abstain or vote against any mutualised borrowing, such as eurobonds, that requires the Dutch to “subsidise” other member states’ defence spending, three ministers wrote in a letter to parliament. Defence loans must not be converted to gifts or used to top up other budgets such as social security.

Eerdmans’ second motion calls on the government to “take an active stance against Eurobonds and strictly monitor the enforcement of European budget rules.”

That would restrict Schoof’s room to negotiate the ReArm Europe plan even further, as it conflicts with the proposal by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to raise the budget deficit ceiling from 3% of GDP to 4.5%, raising €650 billion.

Schoof has also said the rules should be relaxed temporarily, for a maximum of four years, even though ReArm Europe is intended to be a long-term plan to make the EU independent of American military support.