House of Representatives news

Thursday, 6 July, was the last sitting day of the House of Representatives before the summer recess. On that last day, the House often sits late into the night, but this year, due to the ongoing Cabinet formation, the House's schedule was less packed than usual in the weeks before the summer recess. The House is in recess up to and including Monday 4 September. The first plenary sitting after the summer will take place on Tuesday, 5 September. In the meantime, the negotiations on the formation of a new Cabinet will continue, except for a short holiday break.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 6 June 2017, Informateur Herman Tjeenk Willink held discussions with party leaders Mark Rutte (VVD), Sybrand van Haersma Buma (CDA) and Alexander Pechtold (D66) regarding continuing the process of forming a new government. The meeting was held in the Stadholder’s Room in the House of Representatives. Earlier in the day, the Informateur held discussions with Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) and Gert-Jan Segers (ChristenUnie).

On Wednesday 17 May 2017, the House of Representatives reappointed Edith Schippers as informateur in the Cabinet formation process, in a debate on the foundered negotiations between the parliamentary groups VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks. Schippers was assigned the task to investigate, in the short term, the various possibilities for the formation of a new Cabinet that can rely on a productive co-operation with both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House of Representatives Khadija Arib will inform His Majesty the King on the outcome of the debate.

The rules for non-disclosure of internal documents of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, including documents concerning new European legislation, are contrary to the Lisbon Treaty. That is what the parliamentary counsel concluded in an advice to the House of Representatives. A strong information position for MPs is one of the spearheads of the House of Representatives, hence the House asked the parliamentary counsel to prepare a legal analysis of public access to internal Council documents. This was done on the basis of the findings of the rapporteur on the provision of EU information, Mr Pieter Omtzigt MP (CDA).

Guarantee the rights of Dutch citizens in the United Kingdom and preserve the close trading relationship with the United Kingdom. Those are two of a total of five recommendations in the report delivered by Marit Maij (former Member of Parliament for the PvdA) and Pieter Omtzigt (Member of Parliament for the CDA) on Tuesday 21 March 2017 about the intended exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU).

In the plenary debate on the election results held on Tuesday 28 March 2017, the House of Representatives appointed Ms Edith Schippers as informateur, to begin the process of forming a new Cabinet. She has been instructed to investigate whether a stable government of VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks is possible.

On 27 March, the President of the House of Representatives, Khadija Arib, received the report of scout Edith Schippers.

On March 23, the new House of Representatives was sworn in. All 150 MP's took either the oath or the affirmation.

Edith Schippers has been asked to explore the various options for forming a new Cabinet based on the preliminary election result. Edith Schippers has been nominated by the intended chair of the parliamentary group of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

National level where possible, European level where necessary. That is the Cabinet's stance on European cooperation. On Thursday 9 february 2017 the House of Representatives had a debate with Foreign Minister Mr Bert Koenders and Prime Minister Mr Mark Rutte about the State of the European Union. Dutch members of the European Parliament also took the floor in this annual debate in the Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives.

What impact will Brexit, the UK's exit from the European Union, have on the Netherlands? The standing committee on European affairs want to get a clear picture of this. That is why on Monday 6 February 2017 a delegation of the committee visited London. The programme included talks with representatives from international think tanks, British parliamentarians and the Minster of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Mr David Jones.

Which issues will the European Commission focus on in 2017? Which of these priorities will be given special attention by the House of Representatives? On Tuesday 20 December 2016, the House drew up it annual list of European priorities, by means of a vote in the Plenary Hall.

The House of Representatives will conduct its very first parliamentary interrogation, a recently introduced shortened parliamentary inquiry. On Wednesday 14 December 2016 the Parliamentary committee of inquiry into Tax structures designated Mr Ed Groot to chair the committee.

The Dutch House of Representatives has a new app: Debat Direct (Debate Direct). With Debat Direct, a single click allows you to watch debates in the Dutch House of Representatives live on your smartphone, tablet or computer.

On Tuesday 8 November 2016 Dutch MPs Harry van Bommel (Socialist Party) and Fred Teeven (liberal VVD) were active as observers at the US presidential elections. They took part in an election observation mission carried out by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), monitoring a fair course of the electoral contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.