On De­cember 9, 10, and 11, the 36th congress titled “Fif­teen years after 10/10/10” will take place at the “Nieu­wspoort” press and debate centre in The Hague. The event is organised by Inter-Expo Caribbean NV and focuses entirely on the con­stitutional reforms within the Kingdom of the Neth­erlands that took place on October 10, 2010.

On that day, the Neth­erlands Antilles were dis­solved, in accordance with the policy of the fourth Dutch Balkenende Cabinet. Curacao and St. Maarten were granted the status of autonomous coun­tries within the Kingdom, while Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba became part of the Netherlands as public entities.

The congress marks the 15th anniversary of these changes and offers an op­portunity for reflection. Po­litical officials, parliamen­tarians and representatives from the business com­munity and academia will gather for a comprehensive debate on developments within the Kingdom.

The central question of the three-day conference will be: What do the islands expect from the Nether­lands, and what does the Netherlands expect from the islands?

The programme will ad­dress various current top­ics. Several panel discus­sions will be moderated by Professor Ernst Hirsch Ballin, former Dutch Minister of Justice and Kingdom Re­lations. The conference will be chaired by Professor Pe­ter Diekman, a registered accountant.

The Daily Herald.