The Netherlands is going through difficult economic times, but the outlook is positive, queen Beatrix said in her traditional speech at the start of the new parliamentary year.

‘The year ahead will be a year of far-reaching spending cuts which will affect everyone,’ the queen told her audience of MPs and other dignatories in the Ridderzaal.
People are not helped by a culture of dependency, the queen said. The government ‘is therefore following a policy of stimulating financial independence and social involvement.’
‘As far as possible, people who are not able to provide for themselves, such as the sick and the handicapped, will be spared,’ the queen said.
Future prosperity
Nevertheless, the prospects for the future remain ‘relatively favourable’, the queen said. ‘The measures the government is taking are focused on ensuring our future prosperity.’
The queen also referred to the euro crisis and Greece, saying that the Dutch open economy has made the Netherlands especially vulnerable.
NRC analyst Derk Stokmans said the speech was ‘a shopping list’ of ministry strategies. ‘It was clearly financial in tone,’ he wrote on the paper’s website.
Political message
‘The speech from the throne never includes particularly remarkable issues. But I don’t expect many people found this speech inspiring.’
Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager later formally presented the 2012 budget in parliament, saying the aim is to make the Netherlands shock-proof. The actual plans were all published last week.
According to news agency ANP, many of the hats worn by MPs contained a strong political message. D66 MPs wore hats designed by pupils from an ROC vocational training college in protest at education cuts, ANP said.
And Labour MP Jetta Klijnsma wore a hat from the national theatre institute collection. The institute has lost its funding because of the cuts.