Prinsjesdag: Dutch budget day

Parliament's annual session begins on Prinsjesdag - held on the third Tuesday of September - the queen (or king) delivers the Speech from the Throne, on behalf of the government and in a joint session of the Senate and the Lower House, sets forth government policy for the coming calendar year.

Budget day 2012: Read about the tax changes which affect expats for 2012 and the coming years.

Article 4 of the Dutch Constitution

Every Dutch national shall have an equal right to elect the members of the general representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, subject to the limitations and exceptions prescribed by Act of Parliament.

System of government

After a general election the queen and the prime minister form the government, with the sovereign appointing ministers and the cabinet deciding on policy and exercising executive power.

There are three tiers of government — the national government, the provincial governments and the local or municipal councils.

The national parliament has consisted of two chambers since 1815.

The Second Chamber or Lower House, comprises 150 members directly voted for by the public. The First Chamber or Senate has 75 members voted for by the provincial government councils.

The Lower House supervises the government, but the government exercises executive power and is responsible for governing the nation.

In a conflict between the government and the Lower House, the House has the final word.

At the instigation of lawyer and statesman Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (1798-1872), the Lower House obtained in 1848 its set of rights which formed the basis of the Dutch constitutional monarchy.

The Lower House has the right to approve the budget, the right to ask questions, the right of interpellation, the right to submit motions, the right to institute an inquiry, the right of amendment and the right of initiative.

Elections for Lower House MPs are held in principle every four years and political parties win seats in parliament according to a proportional representation system.

Lower House MPs initially assess the government's proposed legislation, but opposition MPs can also introduce bills or proposed legislation.

Once a bill is passed, it moves onto the Senate, which has a right of veto. The Senate can either approve or reject proposed legislation. It cannot amend legislation.

Local government is run by directly-elected municipal and provincial councils. Elections are held in principle, every four years. 

From the municipal council, a municipal executive is formed. The executive consists of a mayor (appointed by the Dutch monarch) and aldermen and women (appointed by the municipal council). The municipal council supervises the executive and together, they govern the town or city.

The provinces are governed by the provincial councils, namely the Provincial Executive Committee and the Royal Commissioner.

Both the commissioner and executive committee are in charge of the daily government of the province. A chairman or woman presides over the provincial council.

Who can vote and stand for election?

Only Dutch citizens aged 18 or older are allowed to vote at national elections.

However, all EU citizens are allowed to vote in local government elections, as are people from non-EU countries who have lived in the country legally for a minimum of five years.

To vote in the municipal elections you must be a resident of the province or town in which the vote is taking place on the date the poll is held.

Courts can strip a Dutch citizen's voting right and mental illness can also result in exclusion from the voting process. Non-Dutch members of diplomatic institutions in the Netherlands are also not allowed to vote.

Amendments to the Constitution in 1917 and 1919 introduced universal suffrage (men in 1917 and women in 1919) and a proportional representation system.

Between 1917 and 1970 voting was compulsory and people who did not turn up at a polling station were liable to a fine. The last election where voting was compulsory was in 1967.

All Dutch nationals aged 18 or over have the right to stand for election.

Non-Dutch nationals aged 18 and over may also stand for election to municipal councils, based on the same conditions granting them the right to vote.

Non-Dutch nationals from other EU states can stand for election in Dutch elections to the European Parliament, provided they do not stand for election elsewhere.

How it works in practice

The Dutch Lower House frequently amends draft legislation and the minister may choose tp adopt the amendment, leave it to the judgement of House MPs, advise against it or even declare it to be unacceptable.

But if the Lower House decides to adopt the amendment even if the minister declared it unacceptable, the minister can withdraw the proposed legislation.

If the minister wishes to maintain the legislative proposal in its original form, he or she may threaten to resign, which might result in a government crisis.

Due to the large number of parties in the Netherlands, governments are always coalitions so if one or more members of the government resign, their fellow party members in the coalition might follow suit, prompting a cabinet crisis.

The Senate has no right of amendment. It can only accept or reject the proposals of the government. The Senate rejects government proposals only in very rare cases.

The government has the right to dissolve the Lower House, the Senate or both.

Dissolution is followed by early elections and in practice, early elections only occur after a political crisis which leads to the resignation of the government.

All legislation requires royal assent from the sovereign.

Minority coalition

Traditionally, the Dutch government is a coalition of two or more parties, but now, for the first time ever, the Netherlands has a minority coalition. On 14 October, 2010, Prime Minister centre-right liberal leader Mark Rutte  formed a government with ministers of his liberal VVD party and the Christian Democrat CDA . The government is supported by anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders' Freedom Party, PVV. This nationalistic party, although known for its right-wing focus, puts equal weight on socialist themes.

Coalition collapses

Rutte and his ministers quit on 23 April after his minority government and its far-right ally failed to agree on a plan to slash the budget to steer the eurozone's fifth-largest economy back below the EU deficit ceiling of three percent, from last year's 4.7 percent.  Elections to choose a new Dutch government will be held on 12 September 2012.

 Expatica/ Aaron Gray-Block/ NG