Dutch parliament approves expansion of island councils and executive boards

The Second Chamber in The Hague has ap­proved legislation that will in­crease the number of Island Council members and island dep­uties on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba beginning with the next island elections in March 2027. The proposal, known as the In­crease Act (Verhogingswet), was introduced by State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitali­sation Eric van der Burg and is in­tended to strengthen democratic representation and administra­tive capacity on the three Carib­bean municipalities.

Under the legislation, the num­ber of Island Council seats will in­crease in stages. Bonaire’s coun­cil will expand from nine to 11 members, while St. Eustatius and Saba will each increase from five to seven council members follow­ing the elections scheduled for March 17, 2027.

The number of island deputies will also grow. Bonaire’s Execu­tive Council will expand from three to four depu­ties, while St. Eustatius and Saba will each increase from two to three deputies.

The changes form part of a broader revision of the Public Entities Act for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (WolBES). The num­ber of council members and deputies has remained un­changed since 2010 despite population growth and in­creasing administrative de­mands on the islands.

According to the Dutch government, island au­thorities have repeatedly indicated that the current number of deputies is insuf­ficient to handle the grow­ing workload.

Once all phases of the leg­islative reform have been completed, the number of Island Council members and deputies will be linked to population size, similar to the system used by mu­nicipalities in the European Netherlands.

Van der Burg welcomed the House’s approval of the proposal. “I am pleased that Parliament handled this bill so quickly and ap­proved it,” he said. “By in­creasing the number of Is­land Council members and deputies, we are strength­ening both democracy and the administrative capacity of the islands. I will con­tinue discussions with the island governments and work on the support mea­sures previously agreed upon for implementation and financing.”

Lawmakers also approved an amendment submitted by Member of Parliament Don Ceder and others re­quiring an evaluation af­ter the first increase in the number of council mem­bers and deputies. Under the amendment, all three public entities must first be evaluated before any fur­ther expansion of seats can take place.

The bill will now be con­sidered by the Dutch Sen­ate (Eerste Kamer). If ap­proved, the amendments will become law and are expected to take effect in time for the March 2027 Is­land Council elections.

The Daily Herald