The cabinet sets out large choices in a low -dear bill of millions and opts for extra purchasing power just before the elections

The double -emissionary cabinet of VVD and BBB rules only cautiously with elections at the end of October. Large new policy choices are not forthcoming. And although according to the figures from the Central Planning Bureau it is also going well with the purchasing power of the Dutch without extra measures, the government is choosing to do something extra for that.

This is evident from the Budget Memorandum and other Prinsjesdag pieces, in the hands of NRC. One of the greater new releases from the cabinet is a one -off 1.6 billion euros to extend the discount on the fuel excise duty by one year. The discount would end on January 1, which would mean an increase in fuel prices of roughly 20 cents per liter.

The government is also increasing the employed person’s tax credit, a discount on income tax for workers. This is paid by increasing the first tax bracket in the income tax, which also applies to non-working people such as pensioners.

In the economic prospects of the Central Planning Bureau of last July, it was already predicted that purchasing power would increase 1 percent before 2026 for all income groups. Without measures. Now that has been adjusted to 1.3 percent in the Budget Memorandum upwards, writes outgoing finance Minister Eelco Heinen (VVD). The national debt amounts to 47.8 percent of GDP. The shortage for 2026 is 2.9 percent of GDP and therefore remains within the European limits in the short term.

Wallet

CPB director Pieter Hasekamp warned the cabinet to look beyond the short term last July. Then the expenses will rise quickly. Moreover, it was a long time ago on the offices of the Central Planning Bureau that they had seen such good and balanced purchasing power figures. It was not necessary to tinker with that, it sounded. And there are so many problems that require investments. Look at that especially!

BBB and VVD decided, with elections over six and a half weeks in prospect, to give the voter something extra. Heinen thought it was necessary to “the wallet of ordinary Dutch people [te] Protect ”. Both government parties are on loss in the polls. VVD gauges in the poll on 14 to 18 seats and BBB at 4 to 6 seats. In the Chamber there are now 24 for the Liberals and 8 for the Boerburger Movement.

The fact that further investments are not being invested in this Budget Memorandum to tackle the major problems of our time was in line with expectations. It is common for cabinets in outgoing status to be cautious with new plans. Previous outgoing cabinets invested mainly in acute problems. As the outgoing cabinet-Rutte IV released money for poverty reduction and Rutte III reserved money to achieve the climate objectives.

A similar urgency has the financing of defense, now that a higher standard has been agreed at the NATO summit last June in The Hague because of the Russian threat. Heinen mentions the defense of Europe in its preface. “During the NATO summit in The Hague, important agreements were made to invest in the collective defense of Europe.” But as expected, no additional financing is arranged in this Budget Memorandum. The idea: because it is such a big extra investment and eventually involves an extra 18 billion annually, it is up to a new cabinet to make choices.

Educational opportunity scheme

Heinen tries to meet the House of Representatives on a few points, hoping to be able to guide the budget through the Lower and Senate. Although the moods are only after the elections. The minister introduces a tax increase for private equity managers. That was a wish of NSC, supported by a majority. A chamber majority also supported a motion by D66 to remove the intended cut on the educational opportunity scheme, an arrangement intended to support vulnerable students. Heinen does that now.

Zoom in

Furthermore, the government will postpone a cutback on public transport of 110 million euros in the three major cities with a year, and will be partially deleted in 2027. The cabinet is compensating municipalities for deficits in 2023 and 2024 in their youth care expenditure, there is 728 million euros in account. The cabinet also reserves extra money for prisons, but that is only about 25 million euros from 2028, rising to 50 million in 2031, according to the justice budget. To resolve the shortage of cells and staff, a few hundred million is actually needed. The millions are removed from a jar that was reserved for the Constitutional Court and the reform of the Council of State. That has lost priority after NSC’s departure from the cabinet.

Accounts are further paid by deleting the BBB gift for farmers: the import of red diesel. Red Diesel is a cheaper fuel for, among other things, the agricultural sector. A little cut is also cut into a tax benefit for expats and money for a European levy on products that have been released a lot of CO2 is used for financing.

Note is: the money for benefits to the pump now, is only collected in the future. The Council of State is also on NRC Leaked advice on the Budget Memorandum, critical of this state of affairs. This makes “a new cabinet […] Faced with a burden increase ”of 135 million euros.

Nitrogen

For his Budget Memorandum, Heinen also gathered money together by not fully compensating ministries for rising prices for the expenditure. Such an inflation correction is common to implement. Structurally, this must yield 400 million euros from 2028. In its advice, the Council of State is also critical of this cutback. This can “lead to a reduction in government services in the long term.” Heinen also chose the Spring Memorandum for this way of cutbacks.

Zoom in

The coalition also agrees on a nitrogen plan, according to the Budget Memorandum. The cabinet releases 2.6 billion euros for this. That is not new billions. It is money from a fund reserved for nitrogen of a total of 5 billion euros, agreed in the Outline Agreement. On those billions, agricultural minister Wiersma (BBB) ​​could only claim if the coalition parties agreed on her plans. At the end of August, the government negotiated this, parallel to the Budget Memorandum Negotiations.

Among other things, the government wants agriculture to work with a whole new system, where farmers can be individually settled on ‘feasible’ emissions for nitrogen, water quality and greenhouse gases.

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