Parliamentary reservation

Sometimes an issue affects the Netherlands to the extent that parliament asks the government not to agree to a proposal before a debate with the House of Representatives has taken place on the issue.

In 2009, the House of Representatives adopted a new instrument to exercise influence on the European decision-making process: the so-called parliamentary reservation procedure. When expressing a parliamentary reservation the House informs the government that it considers an issue to be of great importance and that it will keep a close watch on the matter.

The government then has to provide extra and extensive information on the progress of the issue. Moreover, the government cannot take any decisions in Brussels before a debate with the House has taken place.