After 25 Years, eight disputed regulations become Kingdom law

THE HAGUE--After a quarter of a century of debate, the Kingdom Council of Ministers has formally converted eight disputed regulations into Kingdom Law, closing a chapter that has long symbolized the democratic imbalance within the Kingdom. The change means the parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten will now have a formal role in decisions that were once imposed without their consent.

The controversy dates back to 1995, when the Dutch government created the Caribbean Coast Guard through an Administrative Decree (AMvRB) rather than through a consensus law. Antillean and Aruban parliamentarians objected fiercely, arguing that The Hague was using its dominance in the Kingdom Council to bypass the democratic process.

In 2000, PvdA parliamentarian Gerritjan van Oven introduced legislation to end the practice. His bill was welcomed in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom but resisted in the Netherlands. When Van Oven left politics in 2003, the proposal lost momentum. More than a decade later, in 2016, PvdA MP Roelof van Laar revived the initiative, amending it to permit AMvRBs only in exceptional and temporary cases.

Gradually, the idea gained ground. Curaçao’s Parliament approved the law in 2019, Sint Maarten followed in 2020, and Aruba eventually agreed in mid-2023 after heated political debate led by the MEP party. The law came into effect on January 1, 2024, clearing the way for today’s step by the Kingdom Council.

State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Eddie van Marum will now forward the law to the Kingdom’s Council of State for advice. It is expected to reach the parliaments in early 2026. Delegates from Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten may join in the debates but remain excluded from the final vote, meaning that while the democratic gap has narrowed, it has not been fully closed.

The process must be completed by January 1, 2028, when the Kingdom Charter’s four-year transition period ends.

The eight AMvRBs now legalized are:

• Cooperation scheme for safeguarding Curaçao and Sint Maarten’s country task plans

• Kingdom decree on succession of civil rights and obligations of the Netherlands Antilles

• Kingdom decree on the takeover of loans from the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten

• Red Cross Decree of 1988

• Decree on the Volunteers Medal for Public Order and Safety

• Kingdom decree on financing the office of the Attorney General

• Kingdom decree on succession of the Netherlands Antilles Social Insurance Bank

• Shipping Decree 2004

The milestone is bittersweet: its original initiator, Gerritjan van Oven, passed away on March 18, 2025, just months before seeing his efforts come to fruition.

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