THE HAGUE - The Kingdom Council of Ministers (RMR) meeting scheduled for Friday has been postponed by at least two weeks. The reason is stated that the newly appointed ministers of the Rutte IV cabinet need time to delve into the file.
On the agenda are some tricky issues about which no agreement could be reached with the governments of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten in the previous RMR. For example, the countries have blocked the draft Consensus Kingdom Act for the establishment of the Caribbean Reform and Development Agency (COHO) from being presented to the four parliaments for consideration.
For the Netherlands, this was a reason to suspend the exemption (due to the corona crisis) from the legal obligation not to spend more than there is in income. Until an agreement is reached, the countries will not be eligible for new liquidity support.
The governments in Willemstad, Oranjestad and Philipsburg speculate that State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Alexandra Van Huffelen, unlike her predecessor Raymond Knops, is prepared to soften the conditions for Dutch support.