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Every third Tuesday of September is Budget day (Prinsjesdag). The Queen arrives at the Binnenhof of The Hague to deliver the Speech from the Throne. Later that day the Minister of Finance presents the national budget and the Budget Memorandum.
The Queen arrives at the Binnenhof of The Hague in her golden carriage to deliver the Speech from the Throne. With this speech she opens the new parliamentary year of the States General (the Senate and the House of Representatives).
All ministers, state secretaries, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives and other invited guests are present in the Knights' Hall when the Queen delivers the Speech from the Throne.
In this speech the Queen presents a summary of the most important plans of the government for the following year.
Later that day the Minister of Finance goes to the House of Representatives with the briefcase. On behalf of the government, he presents the national budget and the Budget Memorandum during the first meeting in the new parliamentary year.
The Budget Memorandum is a general explanation to the national budget and provides a summary of the most important plans from the ministerial budgets and the financial consequences of this.
The House of Representatives begins its consideration of the national budget and the Budget Memorandum on the day after Prinsjesdag.
The 'debate on the speech from the throne' deals with general matters. The parliamentary parties express their opinions and ask questions about the budget. The Prime Minister then replies and defends the plans on the government's behalf.
The debate on the budget takes place in October, when parliament's financial specialists discuss the Budget Memorandum with the Minister of Finance. Parliament deals with the budgets of the individual ministries in November and December.
On the third Wednesday in May, Accounting Day, the government reports to Parliament on its performance over the previous year.
The third Wednesday in May is the fixed, traditional day on which the Minister of Finance presents the National Financial Annual Report and the ministerial annual reports to the House of Representatives.
The National Financial Annual Report states what has been realized in the previous year compared to the budget, submitted a year and half earlier on Budget Day.