The presentation of the National Budget and the Budget Memorandum
After the Queens Speech and the traditional cheering of the monarch "Long live the Queen, hurray, hurray, hurray", Her Majesty the Queen leaves the Hall of Knights. The members of the House of Representatives then make their way to the plenary meeting hall of the House, where the minister of Finance presents his famous "Third-Tuesday-of-September"-briefcase, which contains the National Budget and the Budget Memorandum.
The National Budget and the Budget Memorandum
The National Budget consists of a number of proposals of law (bills), one for each ministry, with regard to national expenditure, obligations and national revenue for the coming year. The National Budget and the annual reports enable MPs to check whether the Cabinet has put the taxpayers' money to good use. The budget bills relate to the budgetary year, which is concurrent with the calendar year and runs from January 1st to December 31st.
The Budget Memorandum
The Budget Memorandum is a policy document in which the government looks ten years back and four years ahead. This enables MPs to make a good judgement of the government's proposals. The Budget Memorandum is the financial translation of the Queen's Speech. It describes the current economic and financial situation of the Netherlands and the prospective developments in the Netherlands, in Europe and abroad. It also describes the State's financial situation, the "public treasury". Budget Memorandum, therefore, is another term for Memorandum on the State's finances.
Budget Bill
Parliament authorizes the Cabinet to spend money, to assume obligations and to raise revenues. A general budget as well as specific budgets for each field of policy, such as health care, security and education, are laid down by Act of Parliament. A minister may spend less money, but is not allowed to exceed the budget. An additional bill must be passed by Parliament to stretch a budget.
Budget bills
The budgets of the respective government departments are presented in the form of budget bills. In autumn, both the House of Representatives and the Senate discuss the budget bills, which require Parliament's approval, whether amended or not. Some proposals are amended and adapted, some proposals are rejected and others are adopted immediately without any changes. Only the House of Representative has the right of amendment and can make changes to budget bills. The Senate does not have the right of amendment.
