Budget Day in the Netherlands: What to expect and what we know so far
It is the third Tuesday of September, so today is Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands. The usual ceremonies and traditions are expected, including the Royal procession through The Hague in the Glass Coach, the King’s speech from the throne, the balcony scene, and the caretaker Cabinet presenting the budget for next year. However, given the Schoof I Cabinet’s twice-collapsed state, the budget isn’t expected to hold any surprises.
The Schoof Cabinet had its first Budget Day last year, two months after taking office. Since then, half of the coalition parties have pulled out of the Cabinet. The PVV left in June, the NSC left in August - the first time in Dutch history that a party pulled out of an already collapsed government. The VVD and BBB remain, holding only 32 of the 150 seats in parliament. It will be very difficult for the remaining coalition to get majority support for anything even slightly controversial.
The budget is therefore “policy poor,” Prime Minister Dick Schoof said, according to NOS. No big changes or unexpected choices were made. “But it remains an important piece of work.”
That is reflected in the figures and plans that leaked ahead of Budget Day, as is also tradition. Dutch households’ purchasing power will increase by an average of 1.3 percent, partly due to a slight increase in the earned income tax credit. The government is extending the excise duty credit on motor fuels by a year, investing almost 500 million in the tech sector, and effectively suspending the national CO2 tax for industry.
It is not unusual for a caretaker Cabinet to draw up the national budget, but it is unusual for Prinsjesdag to happen so close to elections. The parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 29. It is therefore likely that the General Political Considerations, the two-day debate on the national budget, will be mostly a campaign debate with every party pushing its own election program.
The Prinsjesdag program starts at 11:30 a.m., when parliamentarians start arriving at the Koninklijke Schouwburg. The arrival is often called the “hat parade,” as it is traditional for female politicians to wear a fancy hat on Budget Day. This tradition may pose a problem with the windy weather forecast for today.
The Royal family will depart from the Noordeinde Palace in the Glass Coach at 1:00 p.m. and arrive at the Koninklijke Schouwburg at 1:15 p.m. King Willem-Alexander will deliver the Speech from the Throne at 1:30 p.m. Queen Maxima, Crown Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia, Princess Ariane, Prince Constantijn, and Princess Laurentien will also be present.
After the speech, the Royals will return to Noordeinde Palace in the Glass Coach. The balcony scene, where the Royal family waves to the spectators from the palace’s balcony, will happen at 2:00 p.m.
Prinsjesdag concludes at 3:30 p.m. when the caretaker Minister of Finance presents the briefcase holding the national budget to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament.
