The coalition held the first round of discussions on the Spring Memorandum last night. This happened at the Ministry of Finance with the deputy prime ministers and faction leaders of the coalition parties. The Spring Memorandum must be submitted to the House by the end of May and provides an up-to-date state of affairs with regard to the current budget and the windfalls and setbacks.
‘Always tinkering’
“It is always a bit of tinkering, but it went on in a good atmosphere and in good consultation,” said Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) about the almost four-hour consultation. “We’re doing it as quickly as possible and taking as long as unavoidable.”
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Jan Paternotte, who was present at the meeting as party leader of D66, said that ‘there is a lot going on in the world’. These events also have budget implications. “And that’s what we’re talking about, of course.”
‘Practiced on the word no’
Minister Sigrid Kaag (Finance) told yesterday In her weekly conversation with RTL Z, she already said that she ‘has practiced a lot on the word no in recent weeks’. Ministers often try to bring in extra money prior to the Spring Memorandum.
Watch the entire conversation that Kaag had with RTL Z yesterday:
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This year, the government will have to deal with several setbacks. All in all, this creates a billion-dollar deficit. “Compensation of people who have paid too much savings tax already costs billions of euros, more money has to be spent on defense and there are even more unexpected costs,” explains political reporter Roel Schreinemachers.
In this article we have listed the largest cost items.
Little money available
It is not yet entirely clear what consequences this will have for the budget. However, the government has warned for some time that there is little money available to tackle new problems.
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High inflation in particular will be an important theme for many people. However, the government has repeatedly emphasized that not much can be done about this. Minister of Social Affairs Karien van Gennip said last week that a significant purchasing power repair is not possible. According to her, the cabinet will mainly look at who needs the available support the most.
Tomorrow further
Tomorrow the parties and the cabinet will discuss the Spring Memorandum, which must be submitted to the House by 1 June at the latest.
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