NL Corona Measures

Outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge (CDA, Public Health, Welfare and Sport) speaks to the press at the Ministry of AZ after consultation with his colleagues. The cabinet discussed whether a number of corona measures can be scaled down again. The corona numbers have improved enough for the second round of easing to continue. The Court of Audit increased the pressure considerably by using a horse remedy at the beginning of April. The institute objected, an instrument that is only rarely used. An improvement plan was requested, a request that the minister promptly granted. The objection was therefore withdrawn on 6 May. Despite this, the Court considers the inadequate financial management to be a "serious deficiency". Public health is not the only ministry that gets beaten. It is not certain whether the expenditure of 9.1 billion euros in government expenditure was correctly spent according to legal rules. This amount equates to 2.48 percent of the central government's total obligations, while the Court of Audit applies a 'tolerance limit' of 1 percent. On another 4.3 billion euros in expenditure, the Commission finds that the legality is at stake, which does not mean that money has ended up in the wrong pockets. Parliament not informed An important reason for the qualification "unlawful" is that, especially in the case of corona, the cabinet did not inform parliament in advance before deciding on expenditure. The House of Representatives, which has the budget right and must first approve expenditures, was therefore faced with a fait accompli. In addition to corona, this was also the case with the creation of the Catshuis scheme, in which the cabinet decided to give victims of the benefits affair 30,000 compensation. According to the Court of Auditors, the passing of parliament is "the cornerstone of the democratic system". The Court of Audit calls the results of the annual audit "worrisome" and therefore has a critical comment on the approval of the 2020 government account. The same happened in 2019.