In the first half of 2016, the Netherlands is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The final interparliamentary conference of this EU Presidency took place on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 June 2016.

At the opening of the sitting of the House on Tuesday 21 July, the Speaker of the House, Ms Khadija Arib, expressed her condolences on behalf of the House, following the murder of Jo Cox, a Labour Party politician.

On Monday 23 May, Brussels welcomed Martijn van Helvert (CDA) and Salima Belhaj (D66), the two Single European Sky (SES) rapporteurs from the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. The rapporteurs visited on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee to discuss the obstacles hindering the creation of a single European airspace.

The issue of welfare in a broad sense deserves greater attention in the political debate. That is why the Temporary Committee on a Broad Definition of Welfare recommends that the Cabinet ask Statistics Netherlands to publish a Monitor on Welfare on an annual basis. On Wednesday 20 April 2016 the Committee presented the report Mapping Welfare.

Members of the standing committee on Foreign Affairs will pay a visit to Ukraine from Sunday 20 March unit Tuesday 22 March. In The Ukrainian capital Kiev they will hold talks about the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine with members of the Ukrainian parliament and representatives of the Government.

Members of Parliament from the EU Member States gathered on 14 March in the Hall of Knights for the third interparliamentary conference organised by the States General as part of the Dutch EU Presidency. The focus of this conference was the question of what the influence is of continuing digitisation – has the internet changed patterns in human trafficking, and how can we use internet to protect victims and prosecute perpetrators? During the conference, attention was also drawn to the problem of migration which is currently a very hot issue among politicians and the general public.

On 13 January, ms. Khadija Arib (PvdA) was elected the new Speaker of the House

On Friday 22 January the House of Representatives hold round-table discussions on the MH17 disaster. These round table-discussions focus on the Cabinet response to the investigation reports about the plane, which was downed by a missile.

On 7 January 2016, the Dutch parliament will meet the European Commission. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of the Dutch EU Presidency in the first six months of 2016.

Following the strong statements by the Oosting Committee and the continuing publicity regarding Ms van Miltenburg personally, Ms van Miltenburg has decided to resign from her position, effective immediately. Ms van Miltenburg will remain as Member of Parliament for the VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy).