The Minister of State is an honorary title in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. The title is formally granted together with the style Excellency

Excellency

Excellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state.Usually, people styled "Excellency" are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, aristocracy, and military, and others holding equivalent rank .It is...

, by the Monarch, but on the initiative of the cabinet of the Netherlands

Cabinet of the Netherlands

The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Rutte cabinet.-Composition and role:...

. It is given on a personal basis, for life rather than for a specified period. The title is granted for exceptional merits, generally to senior politicians at the end of their party career. Ministers of state are often former cabinet members or party leaders. Ministers of State advise the Sovereign in delicate situations, with moral authority but without formal competence.

List of current Ministers of State

Minister of State	Portrait	Former Position(s)	Party	Since	Time
Ruud Lubbers Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994....		United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...   Prime Minister Prime Minister of the Netherlands The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...   Minister of Economic Affairs	Christian Democratic Appeal Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...	January 31, 1995
Frits Korthals Altes Frits Korthals Altes Frederik "Frits" Korthals Altes is a Dutch politician, who served as justice minister during the first and second cabinets of prime minister Ruud Lubbers. He is an honorary member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ....		Minister of Justice Ministry of Justice (Netherlands) The Ministry of Security and Justice is the Dutch ministry of justice. Until 14 October 2010, the ministry was just called Ministry of Justice , but at the start of the Rutte cabinet, the name changed because it had taken over some public safety duties from the Ministry of the Interior...   Ministry of the Interior	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...	October 26, 2001
Jos van Kemenade Jos van Kemenade Jos van Kemenade is a Dutch politician.-References:...		Queen's Commissioner Queen's Commissioner The Queen's Commissioner is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten and the Gedeputeerde Staten , but only has a right to vote in the latter...  of North Holland North Holland North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...   Minister of Education, Culture and Science	Labour Party Labour Party (Netherlands) The Labour Party , is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the 2003 Dutch General Election, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA was a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet following 22 February 2007...	April 5, 2002
Wim Kok Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok ; born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 2002....		Prime Minister Prime Minister of the Netherlands The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...   Minister of Finance Ministry of Finance (Netherlands) The Ministry of Finance is the Dutch ministry of finance: it is occupied with the national budget, taxation and financial economic policy, including supervision of financial markets...	Labour Party Labour Party (Netherlands) The Labour Party , is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the 2003 Dutch General Election, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA was a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet following 22 February 2007...	April 11, 2003
Hans van den Broek Hans van den Broek Henri van den Broek is a leading Dutch politician. He is best known for having served 11 years as the Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1982 and 1993, when he became European Commissioner for Foreign Relations.-Career:Van Den Broek started his career as a lawyer...		European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy The European Commissioner for External Relations was a member of the European Commission with responsibility over the Commissions external representation in the world and the European Union's Neighbourhood Policy...   Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs: it is occupied with the external relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including European cooperation and International development...	Christian Democratic Appeal Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...	February 25, 2005
Pieter Kooijmans Pieter Kooijmans Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans is a Dutch jurist, politician, and diplomat. He was a member of the Anti Revolutionary Party and is now a member of its successor party the Christian Democratic Appeal. He was State Secretary and later Minister of Foreign Affairs...		Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs: it is occupied with the external relations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including European cooperation and International development...	Christian Democratic Appeal Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...	July 13, 2007

External links

• Dutch Ministers of State on the Ministry of General Affairs