We can't keep spending like we used to, Dutch PM says ahead of budget talks

The Cabinet cannot spend as much as it has in the past, said Prime Minister Dick Schoof ahead of the first Cabinet meeting about the new budget that will be presented on Prinsjesdag. "We cannot spend the money that the Netherlands has gotten accustomed to in the last few years, but everybody knows this."

According to Schoof, these conversations about the money for the ministries are always complicated by definition. But he also has "full confidence" that the ministers of the four government parties will reach a suitable result in the next few days during the so-called budget talks.

The Cabinet can go into the talks with a more positive mindset after numbers provided by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). They reported last week that the expected shortage in government finances is less significant than first expected. It is now 2.6 percent as opposed to 2.8 percent. These numbers gave some form of calm, Schoof added.

However, the deficit is still close to the 3 percent limit. Not only does the European Union stick to that upper limit, but the coalition of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB also wants to stay below it. It is now mainly a political choice whether the Cabinet intends to reduce the deficit next year.

Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen has told his fellow ministers that "there is no space" prior to the negotiations about the budget for next year. "All ministers will report to me for the next few days," the minister said Wednesday at the Catshuis, where the Cabinet is holding its first budget meeting. "Then I will outline our financial picture, which is not very rosy. And we have to solve that puzzle."

Although CPB director Pieter Hasekamp suggested spreading the planned tax relief for next year out over the coming years, this cabinet seems to be looking more at cutbacks. This was agreed in the coalition agreement. According to Heinen, the cabinet also has the "ambition not to increase taxes."

Ministers look to Heinen for possible extra money,. Still, he has pointed to the responsibilities of the departments: he asks ministers to maintain control and to prevent shortages in their budget. The Cabinet is now discussing how the "general setbacks" will be paid. "The whole picture has to fit together," says Heinen.