The third Balkenende cabinet was formed on 7 July 2006 after a crisis in and the subsequent resignation of the second Balkenende cabinet. This demissionary minority cabinet of Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was negotiated by former prime minister Ruud Lubbers. Its main tasks were the preparation of the early general election on 22 November 2006 and the 2007 budget. On 22 February 2007, the cabinet was succeeded by the fourth Balkenende cabinet, consisting of the CDA, Labour Party (PvdA), and ChristianUnion (CU).
Although the constituent parties of the third Balkenende cabinet (i.e., CDA and VVD) did not have a majority in the House of Representatives, the cabinet had full power to propose laws, each of which needed to be supported by an ad-hoc majority in parliament. CDA and VVD did have a majority (38 of 75 seats) in the Senate.
Minority cabinets are rare in Dutch politics: the previous minority cabinet was the third Van Agt cabinet from 1982 to 1983.
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“I suppose an entire cabinet of shells would be an expression of the whole human mind; a Flora of the whole globe would be so likewise, or a history of beasts; or a painting of all the aspects of the clouds. Everything is significant.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)