Different sets of rules likely for
Financial Supervision Council
PHILIPSBURG--There will be one Council of Financial Supervision CFT working with two different sets of rules during the process of constitutional change in the Netherlands Antilles.
One set of instructions will be valid for the BES islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) while the other set will be applicable to the Central Government of the Netherlands Antilles, St. Maarten and Curaçao.
This was explained by Directorate of Constitutional Affairs Director Armin Konket who confirmed that the constitutional affairs workgroups would meet in the Netherlands July 4-5 to try to reach an understanding on the arrangements for financial supervision for the Central Government, St. Maarten and probably also Curaçao.
The Kingdom Political Steering Group discussed the progress of the constitutional change process on June 22 and one of the main issues highlighted in the discussions was the need to reach an understanding on the issue of financial supervision.
According to the November 2, 2006, final statement, when an agreement is reached on the financial supervision, the Dutch Government will start disbursing money in the light of debt cancellation of the Central Government and island territories.
However, there are still two fundamental points of discussion that the technocrats need to work out, Konket said. In Friday’s meeting of the Kingdom Political Steering Group, it was decided to give the technocrats more time to work out these differences of opinion on how the financial supervision should work.
Parties agreed that if no understanding could be reached, a political consultation would be convened to take political decision on how the financial supervision should work.
Konket said the point of departure of the Dutch technocrats during the meetings of the workgroups had been that the same agreement on financial supervision for the BES islands should count for the Central Government, St. Maarten and Curaçao.
“But our technocrats presented a counter document in which it’s made clear that this is not possible, and the Dutch have started to acknowledge this. There are still one or two fundamental issues on the table that still need to be worked out,” he said.
The arrangements for financial supervision will be put in place during the transition period before the island territories obtain their new constitutional statuses and the Central Government is dismantled by December 15, 2008.
The possibility exists that the CFT will remain functional for a period after the islands obtain their new statuses.
In the case of the BES islands, the CFT has the authority to give advice to the Executive Councils on changes that need to be made in the draft budget. The CFT can also approve, reject or partially reject a budget after it is approved by the Island Council and only a budget approved by the CFT can be executed. The islands can appeal to the Kingdom against a rejection by the CFT.
This is one of the main issues the Antillean/St. Maarten technocrats have been arguing about with their Dutch colleagues.
In the November 2, 2006, final statement, it is clearly stated that the CFT can only give advice to the Kingdom Council of Ministers and that the Kingdom Minister can give directives to the Central Government and the Island Councils of Curaçao and St. Maarten. Also, the CFT cannot bypass the responsibility of Parliament or the Island and Executive Councils of St. Maarten and Curaçao and reject a budget that already has been approved.
