President of the cabinet The cabinet rules of procedure give the Prime Minister various powers. He sets the cabinet agenda, chairs its meetings and monitors implementation of its decisions. The prime minister may be represented in cabinet meetings by a deputy Prime Minister. Ministers serving as deputy prime minister do so in addition to their other duties and are generally members of other political parties in the governing coalition. A weekly press conference is held after the cabinet meeting, during which the Prime Minister explains government policy and discusses current political events.

Minister of General Affairs The Prime Minister is also in charge of the Ministry of General Affairs. The 1947 Constituent Instrument states that the Ministry is in charge of matters relating to general government policy in the Kingdom, where these are not expressly dealt with by other Ministries. The Ministry's duties as described are hard to specify in detail but amount to responsibility for co-ordinating overall government policy. The Prime Ministers office is in the Torentje (Turret), part of the Binnenhof complex in The Hague. The Prime Minister official residence is known as the Catshuis.

Accountability for the Royal House The Prime Minister is the minister primarily accountable for the Royal House. He meets with the Queen once a week to discuss government policy.

International duties The Prime Minister attends several international conferences and handles a wide range of bilateral international relations. The externe link: European Council is a regular meeting bringing together the heads of government of the European Union member states, plus the Finnish and French heads of state and the President of the European Commission. Important European and international issues are discussed at European Council meetings, at which the Prime Minister is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Secretary, who have a specific responsibility for European policy. The Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament for his actions as member of the European Council.

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