In the middle of September Budget Day the Minister of Finance brought the king of the Netherlands a heavy suitcase with draft laws that are planned to be adopted soon, and the king, in turn, read them out to the members of the States General. What precedes this moment and what will follow after this holiday?
We will tell you how laws are “born” in the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, where even the water level in the canals is subject to the will of the Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment, everything is regulated, and therefore laws are born according to a clear pattern.
- Every law has an initiator. Usually it is the king himself or the ministers. They submit a draft, in the discussion of which all interested persons and organizations participate. At this stage, everything is classified. Only a narrow group of participants knows about the document.
- At the second stage, the law is discussed in the cabinet of ministers, first in a narrow circle, and then in full. The degree of secrecy has not weakened yet.
- In the third stage, the bill goes to the Council of State. There it undergoes a thorough check for compliance with the norms of all other laws of the country, as well as a dozen directives of the European Union. Considering that this is an almost finished document, the degree of secrecy reaches its maximum.
- On Day II (Prinsjesdag), all the bills that were ready at that time end up in the hands of the king, sitting in front of the members of the upper and lower houses of the States General. The king can do anything, and therefore he, without hesitation, reveals all secrets to the grateful people and their representatives.
- After the holiday, the documents remain in the States General. Members of the lower house (de Tweede Kamer) are the first to start considering them.
- Discussions in the upper chamber (de Eerste Kamer) are not envisaged. By and large, members of the chamber check how their junior colleagues have done their work. A little time is allotted for this procedure. The document must pass both houses of the General States by mid-November. Otherwise, the document remains in the chambers for the second year ☹.
- Shabby and with numerous amendments, the bill is returned to the king, who, together with the first minister, must have time to sign it before Christmas (Kerst).
- The final stage of this painstaking work is the printing of the document in the Official Gazette. From that moment on, it is no longer a draft, but a real Law.
This is how difficult, but understandable, Dutch laws are "born". Subscribe to our newsletter, as we will continue to monitor the adoption of new laws, rules and regulations affecting our lives in the future.
