Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
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. The current prime minister is Mark Rutte
who holds the 50th premiership in the Netherlands.
(first among equals).
As a result of the constitutional review of 1983, the position of Prime Minister was inscribed into the Dutch constitution for the first time. According to the constitution, the Government is constituted by the King and the ministers. The constitution stipulates the prime minister chairs the council of ministers (article 45) and is appointed by royal decree (article 43). The royal decree of his own appointment and those of the other ministers are to be contra-signed by the prime minister (article 48).
The prime minister chairs the weekly meetings of the council of ministers and he or she has the power to set the agenda of these meetings. The prime minister is also Minister of General Affairs (Minister van Algemene Zaken), which takes an important role in coordinating policy and is responsible for the Government Information Service (Dutch: Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst). The prime minister is also responsible for the royal house
and has a weekly meeting with the Queen on government policy. Informally the Prime Minister also functions as the "face" of the cabinet to the public. After the meetings of the cabinet on Friday, the Prime Minister hosts a press conference on the decisions of the cabinet and current affairs. The prime minister also has some functions in international affairs, attending the European Council
every six months and maintaining bilateral
contacts. The prime minister's office is a hexagon shaped tower, named "The Little Tower" (Dutch
: Het Torentje) on the Binnenhof
in The Hague
. The official residence
(which is only used for official functions) is the Catshuis
.
Conventionally, the party with the largest number of seats in the Second Chamber will initiate coalition talks after elections. This usually leads to its party leader being instituted as formator of the cabinet. After the negotiations are concluded he or she becomes prime minister. A minister from the smaller coalition party usually becomes vice prime minister of the cabinet. If there is a third party in the coalition, one of its ministers will become second vice prime minister.
Gradually the prime minister became an official function of government leader, taken by the political leader of the largest party. Since 1848 the role of the first minister has become relevant. In that year a constitution
was adopted which made ministers responsible
to parliament and Kings inviolable. Before that year ministers were responsible to the King, who acted as leader of cabinet. Until 1901 the position chair of the council of ministers officially rotated between ministers. Between 1901 and 1945 the position formally still rotated but prominent politicians were able to claim a rotation period of four years. In 1937 a separate Ministry of General Affairs was instituted which was informally linked to the prime minister. In 1971–73 Barend Biesheuvel
was the last prime minister who was not the political leader of the largest party in cabinet, but actually of the third largest. In 1983 the function of prime minister was laid down in the constitution.
The position of the prime-minister has been enforced by the creation of the European Council
. In November 2006, the rules of procedure of the council of ministers was changed to allow the prime-minister to put any item on the agenda of the council, whereas before he had to wait for a minister to take the initiative. A change of the rules of procedure of the cabinet in July 2008 allowed the prime-minister to direct other ministers on the costs of the Royal House, which are covered by several ministries.
|-
! Prime Minister
! Term
! Age
|-
|| Piet de Jong
|| 1967–1971
|| 3 April 1915 (age 96)
|-
|| Dries van Agt
|| 1977–1982
|| 2 February 1931 (age 81)
|-
|| Ruud Lubbers
|| 1982–1994
|| 7 May 1939 (age 72)
|-
|| Wim Kok
|| 1994–2002
|| 29 September 1938 (age 73)
|-
|| Jan Peter Balkenende
|| 2002–2010
|| 7 May 1956 (age 55)
|-
|| Mark Rutte
|| 2010-
|| 14 February 1967 (age 44)
|}
, and therefore also deals with matters affecting the other countries Aruba
, Curaçao
, and Sint Maarten in the kingdom. The independent cabinets of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten also have their own prime ministers: Mike Eman
(Prime Minister of Aruba
), Gerrit Schotte
(Prime Minister of Curaçao
), and Sarah Wescot-Williams
(Prime Minister of Sint Maarten
).
s. Conventionally all of the junior partners in the coalition get one Deputy Prime Minister
; they are ranked according to the size of their respective parties. When the Prime minister
is not present at a cabinet meeting, the senior deputy present chairs it. In the current Cabinet Rutte
Maxime Verhagen
(CDA
) is the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
. If the Prime Minister
and the deputies are absent, the oldest member of the cabinet chairs the meeting. In the current Cabinet Rutte
, Minister of Public Safety and Justice Ivo Opstelten
(VVD
) chairs those meetings.
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of 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...
is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
Council of Ministers of the Netherlands
The Dutch Council of Ministers is the executive council of Dutch government, formed by all the ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy. The Council of Ministers is distinct from the Cabinet which also includes state secretaries...
. He is the de facto head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government. The current prime minister is Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, as well as Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte cabinet...
who holds the 50th premiership in the Netherlands.
Role
Because of his or her limited powers, the prime minister is described as primus inter paresPrimus inter pares
Primus inter pares is Latin phrase describing the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office.When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is formally equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers...
(first among equals).
As a result of the constitutional review of 1983, the position of Prime Minister was inscribed into the Dutch constitution for the first time. According to the constitution, the Government is constituted by the King and the ministers. The constitution stipulates the prime minister chairs the council of ministers (article 45) and is appointed by royal decree (article 43). The royal decree of his own appointment and those of the other ministers are to be contra-signed by the prime minister (article 48).
The prime minister chairs the weekly meetings of the council of ministers and he or she has the power to set the agenda of these meetings. The prime minister is also Minister of General Affairs (Minister van Algemene Zaken), which takes an important role in coordinating policy and is responsible for the Government Information Service (Dutch: Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst). The prime minister is also responsible for the royal house
Monarchy of the Netherlands
The Netherlands has been an independent monarchy since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau since.-Constitutional role and position of the monarch:...
and has a weekly meeting with the Queen on government policy. Informally the Prime Minister also functions as the "face" of the cabinet to the public. After the meetings of the cabinet on Friday, the Prime Minister hosts a press conference on the decisions of the cabinet and current affairs. The prime minister also has some functions in international affairs, attending the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
every six months and maintaining bilateral
Bilateralism
Bilateralism consists of the political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. For example, free trade agreements signed by two states are examples of bilateral treaties. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which refers to the conduct of diplomacy by a...
contacts. The prime minister's office is a hexagon shaped tower, named "The Little Tower" (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Het Torentje) on the Binnenhof
Binnenhof
The Binnenhof , is a complex of buildings in The Hague. It has been the location of meetings of the Staten-Generaal, the Dutch parliament, since 1446, and has been the centre of Dutch politics for many centuries....
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. The official residence
Official residence
An official residence is the residence at which heads of state, heads of government, gubernatorial or other senior figures officially reside...
(which is only used for official functions) is the Catshuis
Catshuis
Catshuis has been the official residence of the prime minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1963.It lies in the governmental seat The Hague on the road to Scheveningen, and serves to receive official guests.-History:...
.
Conventionally, the party with the largest number of seats in the Second Chamber will initiate coalition talks after elections. This usually leads to its party leader being instituted as formator of the cabinet. After the negotiations are concluded he or she becomes prime minister. A minister from the smaller coalition party usually becomes vice prime minister of the cabinet. If there is a third party in the coalition, one of its ministers will become second vice prime minister.
History
For a list of historic Prime Ministers, see List of Prime Ministers of the NetherlandsGradually the prime minister became an official function of government leader, taken by the political leader of the largest party. Since 1848 the role of the first minister has become relevant. In that year a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
was adopted which made ministers responsible
Ministerial responsibility
Ministerial responsibility or individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department...
to parliament and Kings inviolable. Before that year ministers were responsible to the King, who acted as leader of cabinet. Until 1901 the position chair of the council of ministers officially rotated between ministers. Between 1901 and 1945 the position formally still rotated but prominent politicians were able to claim a rotation period of four years. In 1937 a separate Ministry of General Affairs was instituted which was informally linked to the prime minister. In 1971–73 Barend Biesheuvel
Barend Biesheuvel
Barend Willem Biesheuvel was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti Revolutionary Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from July 6, 1971 until May 11, 1973.He previously served as a Member of the House of Representatives from...
was the last prime minister who was not the political leader of the largest party in cabinet, but actually of the third largest. In 1983 the function of prime minister was laid down in the constitution.
The position of the prime-minister has been enforced by the creation of the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
. In November 2006, the rules of procedure of the council of ministers was changed to allow the prime-minister to put any item on the agenda of the council, whereas before he had to wait for a minister to take the initiative. A change of the rules of procedure of the cabinet in July 2008 allowed the prime-minister to direct other ministers on the costs of the Royal House, which are covered by several ministries.
Living Prime Ministers
{| class="wikitable"|-
! Prime Minister
! Term
! Age
|-
|| Piet de Jong
Piet de Jong
Petrus Josef Sietse "Piet" de Jong is a retired Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from April 5, 1967 until July 6, 1971....
|| 1967–1971
|| 3 April 1915 (age 96)
|-
|| Dries van Agt
Dries van Agt
Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from December 19, 1977, until November 4, 1982....
|| 1977–1982
|| 2 February 1931 (age 81)
|-
|| 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....
|| 1982–1994
|| 7 May 1939 (age 72)
|-
|| 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....
|| 1994–2002
|| 29 September 1938 (age 73)
|-
|| Jan Peter Balkenende
Jan Peter Balkenende
Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende is a Dutch politician of the party Christian Democratic Appeal .He was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 14 October 2010, having led four coalition governments, cabinets Balkenende I, II, III and IV, none of which served a full...
|| 2002–2010
|| 7 May 1956 (age 55)
|-
|| Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, as well as Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte cabinet...
|| 2010-
|| 14 February 1967 (age 44)
|}
Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Prime Minister is also chairman of the cabinet of the Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
, and therefore also deals with matters affecting the other countries Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, and Sint Maarten in the kingdom. The independent cabinets of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten also have their own prime ministers: Mike Eman
Mike Eman
Michiel Godfried "Mike" Eman is an Aruban politician who is the 5th Prime Minister of Aruba and the current leader of the Aruban People's Party , which holds the new majority in the Aruban Estates as a result of the seventh Aruban General Elections held on 25 September 2009...
(Prime Minister of Aruba
Prime Minister of Aruba
The Prime Minister of Aruba is Aruba's head of government. Together with Aruba's Council of Ministers, they form the executive branch of Aruban government.-List of Prime Ministers of Aruba:...
), Gerrit Schotte
Gerrit Schotte
Gerrit Fransisco Schotte is a politician from Curaçao, and the current leader of the Movementu Futuro Kòrsou . In the Curaçao general election of August 27, 2010, the MFK became the second largest party with 5 seats in the Island Council. MFK formed an island government together with Pueblo...
(Prime Minister of Curaçao
Prime Minister of Curaçao
The Prime Minister of Curaçao became the head of government of Curaçao after the Netherlands Antilles had been dissolved on 10 October 2010. The Prime Minister, together with the his Council of Ministers and the Governor of Curaçao form the executive branch of the government of Curaçao...
), and Sarah Wescot-Williams
Sarah Wescot-Williams
Sarah Wescot-Williams is the leader of the Democratic Party of Sint Maarten and the first Prime Minister of Sint Maarten. Even though her party only managed to secure two seats in the Sint Maarten general election of 2010, she was selected as Prime Minister in the coalition agreement between United...
(Prime Minister of Sint Maarten
Prime Minister of Sint Maarten
The Prime Minister of Sint Maarten became the head of government of Sint Maarten after the Netherlands Antilles had been dissolved on 10 October 2010. The Prime Minister, together with the his Council of Ministers and the Governor of Sint Maarten form the executive branch of the government of Sint...
).
Deputies
The Queen appoints Deputy Prime MinisterDeputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
s. Conventionally all of the junior partners in the coalition get one Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
; they are ranked according to the size of their respective parties. When the Prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
is not present at a cabinet meeting, the senior deputy present chairs it. In the current Cabinet Rutte
Netherlands cabinet Rutte
The Rutte cabinet is the current Dutch coalition cabinet formed by the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Christian Democratic Appeal . The coalition is a minority cabinet, but is supported by the Party for Freedom to have a small majority in the House of...
Maxime Verhagen
Maxime Verhagen
Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a Dutch politician in the Christian Democratic Appeal party. He is the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister since October 14, 2010 in the Cabinet Rutte.He previously served as a Member of the European Parliament for...
(CDA
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...
) is the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the official Deputy of the Head of Government of the Netherlands. In the absence of the Prime Minister the deputy prime minister takes over his functions, such as chairing the Cabinet of the Netherlands...
. If the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
and the deputies are absent, the oldest member of the cabinet chairs the meeting. In the current Cabinet Rutte
Netherlands cabinet Rutte
The Rutte cabinet is the current Dutch coalition cabinet formed by the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Christian Democratic Appeal . The coalition is a minority cabinet, but is supported by the Party for Freedom to have a small majority in the House of...
, Minister of Public Safety and Justice Ivo Opstelten
Ivo Opstelten
Ivo Willem Opstelten is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Minister of Security and Justice in the Cabinet Rutte since October 14, 2010....
(VVD
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...
) chairs those meetings.