The Ministry of Home Affairs and King­dom Relations BZK is tak­ing new steps to strengthen the involvement of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in na­tional policymaking and leg­islation. The aim is to reduce the distance — both literal and bureaucratic — between the European and Caribbean parts of the Netherlands, ac­cording to caretaker State Secretary for Kingdom Rela­tions Eddie van Marum.

The initiative focusses on ensuring that local adminis­trators and residents of the three islands have greater in­fluence over laws that affect them. Van Marum told the Dutch Parliament that these measures aim to improve participation at all stages of the legislative process and to make the “comply or ex­plain” principle more effec­tive.

Under this principle, Dutch policies should ei­ther apply to the Caribbean Netherlands (“comply”), or The Hague must provide a clear rationale when devi­ating from national norms (“explain”). Factors such as small-scale governance, geographic isolation, limited resources and cultural dif­ferences can justify tailored policies.

However, island leaders argue that Dutch ministries still pay insufficient attention to their unique contexts and that each ministry handles implementation differently.

One major step is the in­troduction of a standardised legislative impact assessment developed by the Caribbean Desk of the Association of Dutch Municipalities VNG. This tool will assess how new laws affect the islands, par­ticularly in terms of adminis­trative capacity. VNG is also providing other forms of sup­port to help the islands meet national standards.

In response to requests from the island governments, a Permanent Representa­tive Office in The Hague is in development. This office will advocate for the islands’ interests and influence the legislative process more di­rectly. In addition, the min­istry has begun publishing bi­annual overviews of planned legislation to allow the is­lands to provide input earlier in the process.

Public participation will also increase. Legislation rel­evant to the islands is being translated into Papiamentu and English on the govern­ment consultation website www.internetconsultatie.nl, and Van Marum is exploring broader translation options. A new legal dictionary in Pa­piamentu, developed by the University of Curacao, will be available by the end of the year.

Finally, the state secretary addressed the ongoing short­age of skilled personnel on the islands. While temporary staffing support from the Eu­ropean Netherlands is avail­able, the goal remains for the islands to carry out their re­sponsibilities independently. The recent increase in struc­tural funding — through a higher “vrije uitkering” (un­conditional grant) — offers some room to hire additional staff. Van Marum also wants to introduce long-term finan­cial supplements to this grant to give the islands greater financial certainty and au­tonomy.

The Daily Herald.