Dutch government collapse threatens EU enlargement

Three months after formation, the Dutch government collapsed yesterday, causing a political vacuum and a new threat to plans to admit 10 more countries to the European Union.

In a day of high drama in The Hague, two ministers from the party founded by the maverick right-winger Pim Fortuyn quit over a long-running personal feud. But their departure was not enough to salvage the divided three-party coalition, which collapsed in disarray.

The demise of the shortest-lived Dutch government since the Second World War may mark the end of the revolution started by Mr Fortuyn, who was assassinated weeks before the elections in May. He broke the cosy consensual world of Dutch politics this year with his blend of personal charisma and anti-immigration rhetoric.

In the elections, the Lisjt Fortuyn party became the second-biggest force in Dutch politics on a wave of sympathy after Mr Fortuyn's shooting. With the VVD liberals, the LPF was invited into a government formed by Jan-Peter Balkenende, the Christian Democrat leader.

But the failure of the LPF to adapt from campaigning opposition to life in government has prompted a slump in its opinion poll rating. New elections are expected in December and are likely to produce a government without Lisjt Fortuyn. And the interregnum could be disastrous for the EU, which must take decisions on the Union's expansion at summits in Brussels next week, and in Copenhagen in December. The existing Dutch cabinet, minus the two ministers who quit, will stay on in a caretaker role but, by convention, such administrations do not take important political decisions.

Urgent discussions have opened to try to agree a negotiating position before the Brussels meeting. Without the approval of the Dutch, the enlargement process could be delayed, and the Netherlands has already demanded a deal on curbing farm payments before agreeing to expand the EU.

To complicate matters, Gerrit Zalm, the leader of the Dutch Liberals in the coalition government, took an uncompromising line over EU enlargement on Sunday, saying three of the nations about to join the EU in 2004 might not be ready in time.

The ministers who resigned were the Health Minister, Eduard Bomhoff, and the Economics Minister, Herman Heinsbroek, who have been competing for power within the LPF. Mr Bomhoffonce headed an economic forecasting agency, while the flamboyant Mr Heinsbroek is an entrepreneur in the mould of Sir Richard Branson.

Mr Zalm pulled the plug on the government, saying: "We need new elections as soon as possible. The situation has become unmanageable. The LPF never puts its chaos aside."