For the first time, there was a lot of booing during Prinsjesdag. Do you think this symbolizes confidence in politics?
‘I’m going to give a nuanced answer to that, because I understand that people also called ‘traitor’ to the king. That is in no way justifiable. It’s unacceptable, ridiculous, nonsense too. The man and his family work day and night.
‘I take people who protest in a decent way very seriously. I understand there are many concerns.’
The government is allocating an incredible amount of money to prop up purchasing power. But the unrest in the country continues. How do you explain that?
‘Because nobody has noticed the effect of the measures yet. We initially presented a purchasing power package of 17 billion, the effect of which will not be felt until 2023. And from November, people will only feel the effects through the energy bill.
‘I understand that people are still very concerned about purchasing power, but also about nitrogen and asylum. We alone cannot solve all the problems in the country. They’re too big for that.’
That’s what people expect from you.
‘If people expect: solve the problems, magic them away, then I have to disappoint them. We can only manage the problems and try to mitigate them. Look at the purchasing power crisis: there is no way we can compensate for all of that. That won’t work. I believe it will cost $40 billion. There isn’t.’
Confidence seems to be at an all-time low, do you take that personally?
‘Secure. I take that personally. At the same time, I also say to myself: I shouldn’t be preoccupied with my own re-election or my own popularity, because then I’ll be busy with the wrong priorities. People will say, whether it concerns asylum or purchasing power, first show that you are working on getting those problems under control.’
Can a government in which there is so little confidence solve the problems?
“If I doubted that, I wouldn’t be here. Then I would resign. I think we can. But of course we will have to show that. And ultimately, in a democracy, there is also the sovereign moment when the voter can express his opinion on this.’
Would it have helped if the chief of the team of ministers had given a speech to at least curb the unrest in the country about purchasing power, as you did with corona?
“That would only work if you do it in the form of a Turret Speech, and then people want to know: what are you going to do about it?”
Was that it, did you just not have the answer?
‘We thought we had the answer in the plans for Prinsjesdag. We initially thought that an intervention in the energy bill, with a price ceiling, was not possible due to European regulations. But ten days ago, on a Friday, there was a lot of support for this in a European consultation, and we think that there is also broad support for this on 30 September during an energy council. Big countries like Germany but also France and we support it. That is really a new fact. I don’t know if a speech by I feel your pain had been a solution before that time.’
If Germany came up with a few weeks ago: we do want such a price ceiling, couldn’t the Netherlands have said that sooner?
‘That is what GroenLinks and PvdA accuse us of. I think that’s a point too.’
The list of crises is now very long. It is striking that these problems are always not solved or are solved very late. Why is the government so slow to respond?
‘Of course I take criticism when people say: it’s too late. And we might have done things sooner. But they are extremely complex issues.
‘If you look at purchasing power, for example: at the end of August we had intended to solve part of the problems by 2023 through the energy tax. We have only known for about ten days that we can also support people from November through the energy bill. People may say: what a panic at the last minute. But I really couldn’t have done it sooner, I think.’
Could it also be the case that no one in the cabinet really felt responsible for that energy bill?
‘No. We all hear the concerns about this in our environment. I hear it in the office, in my circle of friends. People who suddenly go to advance amounts of 900 euros. Then you understand that the country is in total panic. Several ministers – Rob Jetten, Micky Adriaansens, Sigrid Kaag, Marnix van Rij and myself – are working on it.’
French President Macron said the time of plenty is over. What is your message for the Dutch for the coming period?
‘This package runs until the end of next year, so fourteen months. Soon we will look at how we can get the gas reserves back in order for next winter. If the gas is expensive again, we will look again at what we can do. I can’t make any firm promises on that yet. There are of course limits to what we can do as a country.’
There are also economists who warn: the government is working towards a compensation society by compensating citizens for every setback. Do you agree with that?
‘I take that as a warning, I think you should watch out for that. But some people have zero room to deal with this. As a government you have to put up a shield for that. A country with enormous wealth must absorb such a blow. Not completely, but we can dampen the pain.’