House of Representatives news

On 29 July 2014 the standing committee on Foreign Affairs, the standing committee on Defence and the standing committee on Security and Justice engaged in a debate with Mr Frans Timmermans, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Minister of Defence, and Mr Ivo Opstelten, Minister of Security and Justice, about the current situation surrounding the Flight MH17 disaster.Read the English summary of the report of the debate in the attached document.

On Monday 28 July 2014, a briefing at civil service level took place in which the standing committee on Foreign Affairs, the standing committee on Security and Justice and the standing committee on Defence were informed by Mr Dick Schoof, National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), General Tom Middendorp, Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff (CdS), Mr Gerard Bouman, Chief Constable of the National Police Force, and Ms Marisa Gerards, deputy secretary-general for Political Affairs (DGPZ) of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, about the state of affairs concerning the Flight MH17 disaster.

On Monday 28 July 2014 the standing committee on Foreign Affairs, the standing committee on Security and Justice and the standing committee on Defence held a procedural meeting about the repatriation mission. The outcome? A briefing at civil service level to be held on Monday afternoon and a committee debate with the Cabinet on Tuesday 29 July.

On Friday 25 July, the standing committee on Foreign Affairs, was informed about the current situation with regard to the MH17 disaster.

On Friday 25 July the standing committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives will hold a debate about the flight MH17 disaster, from 10.00 hrs until ca 12.00 hrs.

A summary report in English of the briefing given by the Dutch Cabinet to the House of Representatives on the MH17 disaster is now available online.  

This week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the leaders of political parties in the House of Representatives paid a working visit to the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën off the coast of Tanzania.

The Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into Housing Associations is carrying out an inquiry into the structure and the functioning of the housing association sector.

Come to the House of Representatives on Architecture Day, Saturday 21 June 2014, and visit the new part of the building complex. It was built in 1992 and links together several older buildings.

On Tuesday may 20th the House of Representatives adopted the report 'Ahead in Europe – on the role of the Tweede Kamer and national parliaments in the European Union'.

Monday 7 April, the Speaker of the Netherlands’ House of Representatives, Anouchka van Miltenburg, addressed her European colleagues at the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments, in Vilnius. In her keynote speech she asked for augmentation of the EU legislative process that would allow National Parliaments to be of greater influence.

The Speakers of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives will attend the opening ceremony of the Nuclear Security Summit 2014 in The Hague. The summit will officially be opened on Monday 24 March at 3 PM in the World Forum The Hague.

On Wednesday 19 March, Dutch citizens can vote for the municipal council in their cities. One does not need to have Dutch nationality in order to be able to vote in these elections.

On 19 February 2014 the standing committee on Security and Justice appointed Mr Ard van der Steur rapporteur. On behalf of the House he will monitor the negotiation process with regard to the EU-proposal for the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). The House of Representatives is against this proposal.

The French President, François Hollande, met the Speakers of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) in The Hague during his one-day visit to the Netherlands on Monday 20th January.