This week, hundreds of parliamentarians from Europe, North America, and Central Asia will be gathering in The Hague for the Annual Session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA). The meeting is being organised by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Netherlands and will be held from 4 to 8 July in the World Forum in The Hague.
At a recent press conference, Daan de Kort, chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into COVID-19, announced the names of several witnesses who will be heard in public in the coming period. He also listed the key topics to be addressed during each week of hearings. The hearings are scheduled to begin on 29 May 2026.
In 2026, the Senate and House of Representatives will host the Annual Session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will take place from 4 to 8 July in The Hague.
On Wednesday 25 February, prime minister Rob Jetten delivered the government's statement of policy in the House of Representatives. He presented the new cabinet, which was sworn in on Monday 23 February. The delivery of the government's statement of policy was followed by a debate, which lasted two days.
Mr Thom van Campen (VVD) has been elected President of the House of Representatives. In the third round of the election procedure, he obtained 79 out of the 148 votes validly cast. Mr Van Campen has been a Member of the House of Representatives since 2021.
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Dick Schoof and his cabinet on Tuesday 3 June, early elections have been scheduled for Wednesday 29 October. Until a new government takes office, the outgoing ministers will only handle ongoing matters, and the House of Representatives will set its own agenda. Any matters that the House does not wish to discuss will be declared controversial.
The Dutch parliamentary inquiry into the COVID-19 Pandemic visited the UK Covid-19 Inquiry in London from 29 to 31 January 2025. It is rare for two neighbouring countries to conduct an inquiry into the same subject at the same time and with similar aims, which in this case is to draw lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. The chair of the committee of inquiry, Daan de Kort, looks back on an inspiring visit: "It was incredibly interesting and valuable to hear about the experiences of our British counterparts, and to see how they’re approaching this. We can put those experiences to good use in our own inquiry."
"Prince's Day" (Prinsjesdag), which always takes place on the third Tuesday of September, marks the start of the parliamentary year. Prince's Day 2024 was the first one since the elections for the House of Representatives in November 2023. After King Willem-Alexander had delivered the speech from the throne in the Royal Theatre in The Hague, Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen presented the ceremonial "third-Tuesday-of-September"-briefcase to the House of Representatives.
The November 2023 elections for the House of Representatives led to the formation of the Schoof cabinet. This cabinet, consisting of 16 ministers and 13 state secretaries, was sworn in on 2 July 2024. Prior to the swearing in, the House of Representatives held a series of hearings in which the prospective ministers and state secretaries presented themselves. You can read more about the process in this article.
The interests of the people of Groningen have been structurally ignored during gas extraction in Groningen. The consequences for them are disastrous. This is the main conclusion of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into natural gas extraction in Groningen.
