The Council of Ministers () is the executive council of

Dutch Government The Netherlands is a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, Frits M. Meer, Edward E ...

, formed by all the ministers including the deputy prime ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy. The Council of Ministers is distinct from the cabinet which also includes state secretaries. State secretaries do not attend the Council of Ministers unless they are requested to do so and they do not have voting rights. The Council of Ministers meets every week on Friday in the Trêveszaal (English: Room of Treaties) of the

Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; ) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver (Court Pond). It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of Gener ...

. It makes decisions by means of collegiate governance. All ministers, including the Prime Minister, are (theoretically) equal. These meetings are chaired by the Prime Minister, or by the first

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

if the Prime Minister is traveling abroad or incapacitated. Prime Minister

Dick Schoof Hendrikus Wilhelmus Maria "Dick" Schoof (born 8 March 1957) is a Dutch politician and civil servant serving as the prime minister of the Netherlands of the Schoof cabinet since 2 July 2024. Schoof previously worked as secretary-general of the M ...

broke with precedent by announcing in 2024 that meetings would be postponed to Monday in case he could not attend. After each Council of Ministers, a press conference is held at the

Nieuwspoort The Internationaal perscentrum Nieuwspoort (, often simply Nieuwspoort) is an informal and exclusive meeting place for Dutch politicians, lobbyists, spokespersons and journalists in The Hague. History Around 1959, there were complaints about the ...

by the Prime Minister. The political parties that form the governing coalition individually organize consultations on Thursday evening with their ministers and

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

to prepare for the Council of Ministers. Behind the closed doors of the Trêveszaal, ministers can freely debate proposed decisions and express their opinion on any aspect of cabinet policy. Once a decision is made by the council, all individual members are bound by it and are obliged to support it publicly. Members of the cabinet will step down after not agreeing with a particular decision of the government. Generally much effort is put into reaching relative consensus on any decision. A process of voting within the Council does exist, but is hardly ever used. Together with the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, the Council of Ministers forms the Government, also known as the Crown, which makes all the major decisions. In practice the King does not participate in the daily decision-making of government, although he is kept up to date by weekly visits (on Monday) of the Prime Minister. The

Dutch Constitution The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands of 24 August 1815 () is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the Constitution, fundamental law of the Netherlands, Netherlands proper (the territo ...

does not speak of cabinet, but instead only of the Council of Ministers and Government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Ministers Of The Netherlands Politics of the Netherlands

See also

References