The Throne Speech of the caretaker cabinet contains few new plans but describes major challenges in the country. For Drenthe, it is urgent that progress is made.
In the coming months, the current cabinet and parliament, the new House of Representatives, and the next cabinet hopefully can gain momentum with widely supported solutions. Continuity, decisiveness, and collaboration between the national government, provinces, and municipalities are necessary for this. The idea of Every Region Counts should be at the forefront, but it was insufficiently addressed in the Throne Speech.
Defense
The Throne Speech highlighted international changes and the importance of peace and security. This leads to additional investments in defense, which now account for more than 2 percent of GDP. Drenthe is ready to contribute to this. Recently, the Drenthe Defense and Security Agenda was launched. Drenthe and defense have a long history, and we are happy to continue this, including industry and training positions. Drenthe continues to advocate for hybrid use in the expansion of the military training area at De Haar.
Transport
After the Nedersaksenlijn was mentioned in last years Throne Speech, execution can begin a year later. Soon, the start decision will be made for the line, and the college hopes that the concrete implementation will be quickly undertaken by the caretaker cabinet. The college is optimistic that work will be done to enhance safety at stations.
Economy
In economic terms, the King spoke about the importance of accessible facilities for everyone and an attractive investment climate. We hope that there will be room for the region in the elaboration. Because Drenthe is ideally a province of small and medium-sized enterprises. The approach to congestion on the power grid deserves attention.
Housing
The necessity for more housing was mentioned several times in the Throne Speech. Drenthe offers unique opportunities to contribute to the national housing challenge. We have space to realize 45,000 additional homes. It is important that the regions of South and East Drenthe and the Groningen-Assen region are included in the Spatial Planning Memorandum as large-scale housing locations. This does justice to the development opportunities in Drenthe.
Asylum
The handling of the new migration legislation was also addressed. The province of Drenthe continues to advocate for a good distribution of asylum reception across the country and therefore wants to maintain the Distribution Act.
Rural Area
Just like the cabinet, the province of Drenthe wants the country to quickly get rid of the nitrogen lock so that the granting of permits can commence. Therefore, Drenthe will continue with the plans for the Future-Oriented Rural Area Drenthe (TLGD), together with involved partners. The King emphasized the importance of a balance between nature, industry, and agriculture, with an eye on food security. Drenthe endorses this. However, we are concerned about the rising costs of managing nature.
