The right-wing Dutch government will present its first budget on Tuesday, outlining its concrete spending plans for the coming year.

The budget is always presented on the third Tuesday in September and the day itself is known as Prinsjesdag. It is also the traditional state opening of parliament, during which the king will read a speech, written by the government, which outlines the plans for the coming period.

At 1 pm, king Willem-Alexander and queen Máxima travel from their official residence in a ceremonial coach to the national theatre close to the parliamentary complex, where the king will give his first troonrede to be written by someone other than Mark Rutte.

The couple are accompanied by various other members of the royal family and cheered on by well-wishers who traditionally start gathering along the route in the early hours of the morning.

As every year, key details from the financial statement have been leaked ahead of its presentation in parliament by finance minister Eelco Heinen in the form of a ceremonial briefcase, or koffertje.

Spending power is set to rise by less than 1%, which is below earlier forecasts, and Heinen himself has stated several times that the government will have to watch its own outgoings closely.

The government published more about its strategy up to 2028 on Friday. On Tuesday, individual ministry budgets will be published, giving a more detailed look at the spending plans.

Debate

On Wednesday and Thursday, parliament will debate the main proposals with prime minister Dick Schoof in the Algemene Politieke Beschouwingen.

The NRC reported on Tuesday that the government’s three think tanks, the CPB (economics), SCP (social issues) and PBL (environment) have all reacted critically to the government’s plans as they have emerged so far.

In particular, they have singled out cuts in spending on education, research and innovation as damaging to future prosperity. They have also criticised the lack of concrete detail in many of the proposals.