Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag and President of the Court of Audit Ewout Irrgang during Accountability Day 2023. Photo: Martijn Beekman
Our Yearbooks of Parliamentary History are now available to read again. The volumes of the Parliamentary History series are also available via open access. In the coming weeks, we will regularly highlight a gem from our Yearbooks.
The third Tuesday in September is widely known as Budget Day (Prinsjesdag). The third Wednesday in May, on the other hand, is a day that will not ring a bell with everyone. On that day, the Chamber holds Accountability Day (Verantwoordingsdag). This year, it will be on Wednesday 15 May 2024 and for the 25th time. Whereas on Prinsjesdag, the House of Representatives mainly looks ahead based on the budget for the next year, on 15 May the finance minister and sometimes the prime minister answer the House of Representatives about the expenditure of the various ministries.
This includes, as with Budget Day, a separate briefcase for the finance minister. Although the briefcase caption 'third Wednesday in May' visually emphasises that Budget Day and Accountability Day complement each other, in practice, it seems more like a 'big sister with a little brother'. Whereas the plans for the new year are in an ivory-coloured case made of goat parchment [1] , the annual figures have to make do with a simple brown copy. Familiar frills that we know from Prinsjesdag, such as the hat parade and carriages with royals and children waving flags, are absent in May. Journalistic coverage of the annual figures and annual report is also moderate. Susanne Geuze, who wrote an article on 15 Years of Accountability Day in 2014, noted that she was the only reporter even present at the Accountability Debate that year. [2]
