King Willem-Alexander carefully avoided the loaded word ‘asylum crisis’, gave the four coalition parties a boost, and ended with a sigh about what is still possible.
Of Speech from the Throne began with a reference to the golden summer of sports. From this, the country must conclude that ‘talent, hard work and perseverance’ yield results, provided that everyone is prepared to ‘dedicate themselves’. You can read it as proof that the new cabinet is hungry for support.
During the first Speech from the Throne of the Schoof cabinet, it was as if the King wanted to encourage the ministers and coalition parties, among other things by talking about that wonderful summer of sports, in which there was ‘much to enjoy’ and ‘much to be proud of’.
The King paid lip service to the ideology of the four coalition parties. They all got a turn.
In the Speech from the Throne, the King avoided the word ‘asylum crisis’
First, NSC got all the attention, with references to security of existence and good governance. Then the King underlined the importance of healthy government finances, which the VVD insists on. Then it was on migration, the main point of the PVV.
The King had already said then that the cabinet ‘will address the concerns that were so clearly expressed in the election results of November’. He mentioned the ‘acute concerns about migration’. A few measures that the King mentioned: sober reception for certain categories of asylum seekers, a tit-for-tat for nuisance-causing safe-country nationals, and criminal liability for rejected aliens who try to avoid their deportation.
The King avoided the word ‘asylum crisis’. By declaring such a crisis, the cabinet could push parliament aside and order tough measures. The opposition finds this undemocratic, and it is doubtful whether this will hold up in court. He limited himself to the phrase: ‘The problems are particularly urgent in the asylum chain.’ That also sounded serious, but it is not a crisis.
Finally, BBB was given a turn. Nature and agriculture are too often set against each other, but they can go together, the King argued. He reflected on ‘food security in an uncertain world’, and said that ‘Dutch farmers are the most efficient in the world and we can be proud and careful of that’. These sounded like phrases from the BBB election manifesto. Apparently this was necessary.
Speech from the Throne 2024: left-wing values and right-wing priorities
The King also came up with this discovery: ‘the broad concept of security of existence.’ He explained this as a combination of left-wing values (such as income security and fundamental rights) with right-wing priorities (such as combating crime and strong defense).
A Speech from the Throne always has something soothing, but this passage was so conciliatory that the good listener will fear the opposite. ‘Broad security of existence’ sounds like the concept of ‘broad prosperity’, embraced mainly by the left, but with the addition of solid right-wing security objectives. All in all, it is an incentive for NSC to continue supporting the coalition, and for the left-wing opposition to do so as well.
What remains from the Speech from the Throne
The pep talk ended in a sigh. Because yes, the coming days and weeks will mainly be about how the Schoof cabinet wants to limit the influx of asylum seekers, which may not be legally possible. And about what is needed to build 100,000 homes per year, without there being enough space for it. Or about the personal contribution to healthcare that will be twice as low in a few years, while insurance premiums will then rise just as fast.
Willem-Alexander said: ‘What is possible remains a difficult question.’ Because the government cannot make the country even more complex with a new flood of regulations. That will only make citizens uncertain.
And so, at the end of his Speech from the Throne, the head of state came to the pragmatism of the non-partisan Prime Minister Dick Schoof. The King spoke of ‘improving step by step’, for the sake of ‘certainty, trust and connection’. A desire for Olympic euphoria, but also the fear that the medal fever will not last in the coming days.
