National Budget and the Budget Memorandum

After the King''s Speech in the Hall of Knights the members of the House of Representatives make their way to the plenary meeting hall of the House, where the minister of Finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, presents his "Third-Tuesday-of-September"-briefcase, which contains 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 King's Speech. It describes the current economic and financial situation of the Netherlands and the prospective developments in the Netherlands, in Europe and abroad.