Featured : MPs' rights
What rights do members of the House of Representatives have and how can they exercise influence on the government's policy? From the 30 members debate to putting forward a motion: learn more about some Dutch parliamentary terms.
Members of the House of Representatives have got a set of specific rights, which enable them to execute their tasks properly. They can propose bills themselves, or amend bills proposed by the government. They can also ask questions to ministers and state secretaries and call them to account. Some parliamentary terms are explained below.
Motions
A motion contains a statement of an MP on a certain subject. Every MP can put forward motions during a plenary sitting, a committee debate on draft legislation or a committee debate on a government policy paper. By means of a motion an MP can ask the government to pay attention to a particular subject, to draft a bill, or to give its opinion on policy issues. The standard wording of a motion is as follows: "The House, having heard the deliberations, … considering that, … requires the government to … and passes on to the order of the day". By means of a motion of no confidence the House can withdraw confidence from a minister or state secretary. If, after voting, such a motion is adopted by the House, the minister or state secretary concerned has no other option than to resign.
The right of initiative
Members of the House of Representatives have the right to propose bills on their own initiative. These so-called initiative bills are dealt with according to the same procedure as bills proposed by the government. The only difference is that the MP who proposed the bill will defend it in the House. Assistance in drafting a bill is provided by the Legislation Office of the House of Representatives. The officials of the Legislation Office mostly write the texts. They also assess all bills and amendments for legal correctness and they consider whether the intention of the MP in question has been expressed accurately. Immediately after the House has adopted a bill, the Legislation Office submits it to the Senate.
Oral Questions.
Every Tuesday at the start of the House's business, from 14.00 until 15.00 pm, it is question time in the House of Representatives. Every MP can table a subject to question a minister or state secretary about, by giving notice of the subject to the Office of the Secretary-General. All questions put forward by MPs for question time are gathered here. On Tuesday morning the President of the House decides which subjects will actually be dealt with during question time. Among other things this depends on the topicality of the subject. The President then invites the ministers or state secretaries concerned, notifying them of the subject they will be asked questions about. Subsequently, the President makes public which subjects have been admitted for question time and in which order, by sending them to all the members of the House.
30 members debate
In April 2011, the so-called 30 members debate was introduced in the House of Representatives, to replace the former emergency debate. A 30 members debate is held if the request for such a debate is supported by at least 30 members, whereas a single majority of the House of 76 members is required for a regular debate. This gives an MP who applies for a 30 members debate a greater chance of his or her request being honoured. Therefore, if an MP considers it to be of paramount importance that a debate be held on a certain issue, he or she may apply for a 30 members debate in stead of a regular debate.
Agenda
The House of Representatives sets its own agenda, during the so-called arrangement of business. This is done in plenary sittings, which take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. During the arrangement of business MPs can apply for a 30 members debate, for instance. If a sufficient number of MPs support the request, the debate is put on the agenda. It is up to the President of the House to decide on the day when the debate will be held.