Removal of Curaçao from supervisory regulation now legally finalized
THE HAGUE – Curaçao has now also been formally removed from the Kingdom Regulation under which government tasks that the island could not yet perform independently at a sufficient level had been supervised since 10 October 2010. The previously announced termination has since been incorporated into legislation and entered into force on 16 July.
This follows from the Royal Decree published this week. The decree was signed on 9 July. All references to Curaçao, the Curaçao progress committee and the ministerial consultation on the Curaçao action plans have been removed from the regulation.
The Kingdom had already announced in April that Curaçao would be removed from the regulation. With the new decree, that political decision has now been legally implemented. The formal explanatory memorandum states that all action plans for Curaçao have been completed and that the cooperation arrangement for the island has thereby lapsed.
The regulation came into being with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010. Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries at that time, but could not yet perform several government tasks fully independently. Improvement plans were drawn up for those tasks. Special progress committees supervised their implementation.
The removal does not necessarily mean that all Curaçaoan government services are functioning without problems. It means legally that the action plans agreed upon at the time have been completed and that the associated reporting and supervision under this specific regulation have ended.
The regulation is separate from the Country Package and the current reform process between Curaçao and the Netherlands. That cooperation is based on other agreements and remains unchanged by the removal of Curaçao from this supervisory regulation.
Sint Maarten remains under supervision
For Sint Maarten, the cooperation regulation continues to apply. According to the explanatory memorandum, action plans that fall under the responsibility of the Minister of Justice are still ongoing there.
The rules for that supervision are being relaxed at the same time. Sint Maarten will henceforth be required to report every six months instead of every quarter. The deadline for drawing up implementation reports and responding to progress reports will also be extended from two to four weeks.
According to the explanatory memorandum, the previous reporting frequency proved too high in practice, partly due to Sint Maarten’s limited staffing capacity. The semi-annual reports are expected to be more comprehensive, however.
The responsible Sint Maarten sector minister will also be added to the ministerial consultation. In practice, this concerns the Minister of Justice, as the still-ongoing action plans fall under that minister.
The regulation can henceforth be extended by three years at a time, instead of two years. Once Sint Maarten’s final action plans have also been completed, the regulation as a whole must be repealed by Royal Decree.
