Repairing damage to homes, sealing up earthquake cracks and strengthening operations in Groningen and North Drenthe will cost more than 1.1 billion euros more than expected.
This can be deduced from the spring memorandum, which was recently published. Even without the extra measures announced and the injection of billions that the Rutte cabinet announced in response to the parliamentary inquiry report on gas extraction in Groningen, considerable extra money is needed. For example, claims handling alone will require 612 million euros more than was indicated last year.
The spring memorandum is an interim overview of the government that describes how the government’s revenues and expenditures are progressing. And whether this is still somewhat in line with what the various ministries have agreed in the national budget of that year. For damage and reinforcement, that is quite out of whack with 1.1 billion in extra expenditure.
New arrangements
The fact that claims handling in Groningen, for example, is more than an additional half a billion higher, is mainly because the claims desk Institute for Mining Damage Groningen (IMG) has come up with some new regulations. This concerns, for example, the provision on loss of enjoyment of living, says a spokesperson for Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK). Earthquake victims can turn to the IMG for this scheme if their living comfort is no longer in proportion to their housing costs. The ‘gap’ in between can be compensated.
The reinforcement operation is also more expensive. Until 2029, the national government is now reserving more than 460 million euros extra for this. The spring memorandum also shows that the total costs (since 2021) for the Netherlands will rise to 9.6 billion euros over the next six years. This is money that IMG and the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG) think they still need for dealing with damage and strengthening in the Groningen earthquake area.
After 2029, the money tap will close
It is remarkable in this context that from the year 2029 no more money will be reserved for the reinforcement operation. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy confirms that ‘it is indeed expected that there will be no more costs after 2028’ for the reinforcement.
These expectations were also expressed earlier by, for example, the then Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren (now Defence). But regulators such as the State Supervision of Mines (SodM) doubted the feasibility of that deadline. For example, the pace of construction would be too slow to achieve a final completion in 2028.
At the moment, according to figures from the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG), more than 8,500 homes have been declared safe and almost 3,500 have been reinforced. This means that, with five and a half years to go, about a third of the operation has been completed.
A quarter of a billion a year from the cabinet
The cabinet will allocate 7.5 billion euros over the next thirty years to pay off the debt of honor to Groningen and North Drenthe. That amounts to 250 million euros per year. That annual amount is ‘adjusted’ every year to the price level of that moment. Otherwise, the 250 million in 2053 would be worth much less (due to inflation) than, for example, in 2030. ,, It is general fiscal policy that the budget is drawn up at the current price level. The cabinet decides annually on the adjustment for inflation (wage allocation and price adjustment)”, the spokesperson said of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) upon request. In addition to the 7.5 billion for thirty years, ‘4 billion in general resources will also be made available for Groningen until 2028’. According to the ministry, this is for ‘incidental expenses’ that are charged to ‘the national debt’.