Dutch Parliament agrees to
delay decision on EU status
THE HAGUE--The Antillean and Aruban Affairs Committee NAAZ in the Dutch Second Chamber supported the Dutch Government on Thursday in its recent decision to hold off on choosing a change in the relation the Antillean islands and Aruba have with the European Union (EU).
The five Antillean islands and Aruba have been enjoying the status of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) since 1964. An alternative to the OCT status is Ultra-Peripheral Territory (UPT) status.
Curaçao, Aruba and the BES islands Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius have already indicated that they want to continue their OCT status for another five years. They don’t want to take a decision on a possible switch to UPT until 2013. St. Maarten still has to formulate its standpoint and is expected to submit its position shortly.
The Dutch Government, together with the BES islands which will become “public entities” of the Netherlands in the near future, has decided it is best not to make the switch from OCT to UPT in the next five years. The reason given is that the switch could frustrate the process of integrating the BES islands into the Dutch system.
The Dutch Government will re-evaluate the situation five years after the BES islands have become public entities of the Netherlands.
Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten stressed during the meeting with NAAZ on Thursday afternoon that the decision had been taken in close consultation with the BES islands.
Member of Parliament for the labour party PvdA John Leerdam, and other members of the NAAZ committee agreed that the switch to UPT would be too confusing and too complex for the local governments, taking into account that they were already preparing for a new status within the Dutch Kingdom.
Leerdam’s colleague of the liberal VVD party Johan Remkes agreed, but put it a bit more bluntly: “The decision on UPT status shouldn’t be an automatic pilot. It can only happen if the islands have everything under strict control.” He said the consequences of UPT status were far-reaching and an inventory would first have to be made whether the islands could carry the UPT status.
State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans confirmed that those consequences indeed would be no simple thing. When you become a UPT, you become part of the mainland of Europe and you are bound to strict regulations, he explained. And if a UPT wants certain exemptions or adaptations, they will have to be approved by the EU. “You have to know what you say ‘yes’ to,” said Timmermans.
In the past the OCT status had a lot of advantages, but over the years the status had less and less content, explained Timmermans. He compared the OCT and the UPT status to a house. “The OCT is an empty house. You still have to decide what kind of furniture you will put in it. The UPT is a fully-equipped house. There you have to decide what you want to take out to make it a house that more suits your needs,” Timmermans said.
The discussion about which status to choose is not one of yesterday, said Bijleveld-Schouten. “’What does a UPT offer?’ is the often heard question,” she said, explaining that this was the reason for two studies published recently by Erasmus University of Rotterdam, which looked into the economic consequences, and University of Groningen, which outlined the legal implications.
The islands, the Antillean Government and the Dutch Government have now responded to those reports, with the exception of St. Maarten. Bijleveld-Schouten said the islands could not switch to another EU status without the approval of the Netherlands.
Whatever the islands and the Netherlands may decide in the future, communication and feedback with the people need to be secured, said John Leerdam. Communication, he said, was important to make sure the ultimate decision would have the broad support of the community.
