The Senate debated on Tuesday, March 11 with State Secretary Szabó for Digitalization and Kingdom Relations about the budget statements for Kingdom Relations and the BES Fund for 2025. The Senate will vote on the bill on Tuesday, March 18.
Party for the Animals
Senator Nicolaï of the Party for the Animals (PvdD) was the only speaker during the debate. He also spoke on behalf of the Volt party.
In 2022, the Dutch government apologized for the slavery past. A Slavery Fund was established to subsidize projects for more social awareness about this past. In the House of Representatives, an amendment by JA21 was accepted to remove 800,000 euros for execution costs of the subsidy scheme from the budget. Senator Nicolaï wanted clarity on whether these costs would now not be charged to the subsidy scheme itself. Surely this is not the intention after offering apologies, he believed. How is it ensured that the reduction in execution costs does not actually detract from the subsidies of the slavery fund?
Governments Response
State Secretary Szabó replied that article 2 of the budget proposal will be reduced by 800,000 euros. Originally, this amount was added to the budget in addition to previously incurred execution costs. The state secretary indicated that the reduction in costs will not be charged to the subsidy scheme itself but will be borne in another way by the ministry. According to the state secretary, there are no indications that the granting of subsidies will be jeopardized by the disappearance of 800,000 euros for execution.