Politics & Public Affairs: Budget Day

Last Tuesday was Budget Day, traditionally the start of the parliamentary year. And although tradition; This year it all seemed a little different. Due to the renovation of the Binnenhof, the speech from the throne was not read in the Ridderzaal, but in the Royal Theater. And due to ever-increasing energy costs, increasing inflation and other unrest, the atmosphere also seemed a little less festive than usual. For many Dutch people, an exciting winter is approaching and that is causing concern.
In the Speech from the Throne, the King spoke about contradictions and accepting uncertainties. Uncertainties, because the world around us (labor market, climate, energy, nitrogen, etc.) is changing rapidly. Contradictions, because our country is actually doing quite well on a macro level, both economically and socially, but the differences on an individual level are increasing. The King made the explicit call to show resilience, work together and deal with major social themes and challenges in a different way.
The biggest challenge seems to be “redistribution”. Customized solutions are needed to reach and help specific groups appropriately. But customization is something that our public system is not necessarily equipped for by nature. It is also striking that various crises and challenges seem to converge within (smaller) SMEs; the engine of our economy. Together we will have to have better answers to this.

Budget Day is an important day of the year; a reflection on where we are as a country and which direction we should go. However, it is not the only relevant (political) day. Do you have a clear idea of what the national budget cycle looks like?

• Spring note: This discusses and explains the current budget. During the coalition negotiations on the coalition agreement at the end of 2021, the various parties agreed to give more weight to the Spring Memorandum, in order to bring more calm to the budget process. Due to the special circumstances in which our country currently finds itself, this was not possible on this Budget Day, which led to criticism from the Council of State (NOS).
• August negotiations: August will be dominated by negotiations between coalition parties about the Budget Memorandum. Normally these discussions are completed well before Budget Day, so that the CPB has enough time to calculate all decisions and the Council of State can draw up its advice on the plans. This year, however, was different: for example, negotiations on energy measures were still taking place the evening before Budget Day (Volkskrant).
• Budget Memorandum/Prinsjesdag: The Budget Memorandum is presented on Budget Day, which is also the formal opening of the parliamentary year. The Budget Memorandum provides an overview of the total government budget and the ministerial budgets explain per ministry where the priorities lie and what expenditure will be incurred.
• General Political Considerations (APB): During these two days – which follow Budget Day – the party leaders in the House of Representatives will engage in substantive debate with the Prime Minister about the main points of the government's plans. On the first day the MPs have the floor; the following day the Prime Minister answers the questions that have been asked. During these debates there is very limited room for adjustments to the government's plans. However, the debates do offer politicians the space to present their positions to their own supporters and the broader public.
• General financial considerations: These considerations take place two weeks after the ABP. The financial specialists from the various factions enter into a debate with the Minister of Finance. In these considerations, the conversation really zooms in on the financial details.
• Budget debates: In the following months, all individual budgets per ministries will be discussed in the House of Representatives. The House has until January 1 at the latest to discuss the budgets. The overview below shows when which budget is discussed:

Are you curious about what your organization can or should do with these budgets, or why they may be relevant to your organization? Contact us!