The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties; BZK) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, local governments, intelligence, and kingdom relations. The minister of the interior and kingdom relations is a member of the

Cabinet of the Netherlands The cabinet of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, which has been in power since 10 January 2022. It is headed by Prime Mini ...

. The ministry was created in 1798 as the Department of Internal Police, to monitor the state of dikes, roads, and waters of the Batavian Republic. It became the Ministry of the Interior in 1876 and had several name changes before adopting its current name in 1998. Hanke Bruins Slot has been its incumbent minister since January 2022.

History

A precursor of the ministry, the Department for Internal Policy and Supervision on the State of Water Works, was founded in the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

in 1798. This department was renamed Ministry of the Interior in 1801, and this name carried through when the Netherlands regained its independence in 1813. Its initial scope included such diverse policy areas as education, commerce, public health and telegraphy. As the role of the government expanded with the advent of the welfare state in the late 19th and early 20th century, several of these policy areas were transferred to other ministries or given their own ministry. This started in 1877, when the Ministry of Water Management, Commerce and Industry was established. This development continued in the 20th century. In 1918, public housing was transferred to the Ministry of Labour, and a Ministry of Education, Arts and Science was established. The ministry was briefly renamed Ministry of the Interior and Agriculture in 1923, but agriculture was transferred to the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1932. More recently, the ministry has gained certain competences. In 1998, the responsibilities previously falling under the Cabinet for Netherlands Antillean and Aruban Affairs, a remnant of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs, were given to the ministry, which was renamed Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, referring to the relations between the different constituent countries within the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

. In 2010, security policy, including police and fire services, were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Security and Justice, while the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations regained public housing in return.

Responsibilities

The ministry is called the "Mother of all Ministries" because most ministries, like the former

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality , type = Department , logo = Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit Logo.png , logo_width = 250x250px , logo_caption = Logo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality , image = ...

and

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science ( nl, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen; OCW) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for education, culture, science, research, gender equality and communications. The Ministry was cre ...

split from the ministry at one time or another. It is also called the "residual ministry", because it is left with a diverse set of responsibilities after these splits. The ministry concerns itself with the following issues: *

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose go ...

and the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

Public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

* The quality of personnel and management within central government * The Dutch constitution and the system of constitutional government * The partnership with Curaçao,

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

and

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...

and government buildings Because it shares so many responsibilities, and has twin buildings (both old and new) with the Ministry of Justice and Security, they are sometimes called the twin ministries.

Organisation

The Ministry has currently three

Government Agencies A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...

and two Directorates: }) , OVV , Accidents and Incidents Investigation , - ! style="background:#cccccc;", , Logo rijksvastgoedbedrijf

, Government Real Estate Agency
( nl, Rijksvastgoedbedrijf) , RVB ,

Real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

, - !colspan=4, Independent government Agency !Responsibilities , - ! style="background:#cccccc;", , ,

General Intelligence and Security Service The General Intelligence and Security Service ( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD; ) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national se ...

( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst) , AIVD ,

Intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informati ...

•

Secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

, - * Directorate for Public Administration (DGOO) * Directorate for Management and Personnel Policy (BW) * Directorate for Constitutional Affairs and Kingdom Relations (CKR)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1798 establishments in the Batavian Republic Interior and Kingdom Relations

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

Local government in the Netherlands Ministries established in 1798 Skyscrapers in The Hague

History

Responsibilities

Organisation

See also

References

External links