In recent weeks, several debates have taken place, but what I find most important is to explain to you, the people, how the procedure of a Kingdom Law actually works. To make this information easier to follow, I will divide it into three phases:
(1) The preparatory phase,
(2) The review phase in the Kingdom Council of Ministers, and
(3) The formal procedure as established in the Charter of the Kingdom.
1) Preparatory Phase
In this phase, the governments enter into an Administrative Agreement. This agreement expresses the intention of the countries to work toward either an intergovernmental arrangement or a Kingdom Law. Civil servants from the participating countries are assigned to work together on a draft — in this case, the draft Kingdom Law HOFA. During this process, they keep their governments informed and provide feedback if there is disagreement. Once the civil servants conclude that no further progress can be made, they report back to their governments, marking the draft as complete. For this reason, this stage is also called the civil service phase.
Once completed, a Administrative Consultation takes place among the countries to determine whether to move forward with an intergovernmental arrangement or a Kingdom Law. If any government disagrees, it can choose to withdraw, ending the process there.
2) Review Phase in the Kingdom Council of Ministers
Once the Administrative Consultation confirms agreement — as happened with HOFA on August 13, 2025 — the draft moves to the Kingdom Council of Ministers (in the Netherlands). After formal approval, the Kingdom Law process officially begins.
It starts with an internet consultation, giving everyone the opportunity to share their opinions on the proposed law. You too can submit feedback online. For HOFA, this step has already been completed.
After the consultation closes, the draft returns to the Kingdom Council of Ministers for final approval before being sent to the Council of State. At this stage, governments can still decide to stop the process. However, since the AVP-Futuro government already agreed to the draft on August 13, 2025 (without informing the public), it is now difficult to reverse course.
Once the Council of State (in the Netherlands) issues its opinion, the governments meet again to decide whether to amend the draft or not. When finalized, the draft is sent back to the Kingdom Council of Ministers for approval to begin the formal legislative procedure in the parliaments of the countries concerned.
3) Formal Procedure under the Charter of the Kingdom
After approval and receipt of the Council of State’s advice, the formal procedure begins, as described in Articles 15–19 of the Charter of the Kingdom. Article 15 states that the bill must be submitted simultaneously to the Dutch House of Representatives and to the Parliament of Aruba. A deadline is also set for submitting a report, as provided in Article 16.
Once this report is completed, the governments of Aruba and the Netherlands must jointly respond with a Memorandum in Response to the Report (NAV). This, together with the bill, is then submitted to both parliaments — marking the law as ready for debate.
The Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives then sets a date for the debate on the HOFA law. Under Article 17 of the Charter, the Caribbean parliaments may send special delegates to speak during the session. However, they may only propose motions or amendments with the support of Dutch MPs. This means that no Aruban parliamentarian — including myself, Edgard Vrolijk — can represent Aruba in The Hague without authorization from a majority of our own parliament.
The government may also send its Plenipotentiary Minister to attend the session. But in the case of HOFA, this would have little purpose, since the Aruban government already agreed to the draft during the Administrative Consultation on August 13, 2025.
If the Parliament of Aruba does approve a special delegation to represent the Aruban people in the Dutch House, it is crucial to remember that it will ultimately be the 150 Dutch MPs who will vote on the law and any motions or amendments. Not me, not AVP, not Futuro — but 150 Dutch representatives who often do not know our situation. If the Parliament of Aruba does not approve a delegation, there will be no need for debate, and the law will likely pass automatically in the House of Representatives.
Conclusion
It is important to me that you are well informed about this procedure so that no one can mislead you. In summary, the law is currently before Parliament only for the drafting of the report mentioned in Phase 3. If the Parliament of Aruba disagrees, it can stop the process through a public meeting and a motion declaring that there is no consensus — which would end the matter.
During the public meeting of October 28, the AVP-Futuro coalition submitted a motion instructing the government to continue the process — specifically to send the draft to the Council of State. Therefore, HOFA is currently in Phase 2, the stage of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
In conclusion, this shows that the Administrative Agreement marks only the beginning of the process, in which countries express their intention to reach an arrangement. In the Preparatory Phase, the process can still be stopped at any time if there is disagreement. Phase 1 is usually long, but once agreement is reached — as happened on August 13, 2025 — the situation becomes far more complicated. You can now see that Parliament’s role in this process is very limited, and the only real moment of influence is when the draft reaches Parliament for the report. That is when we must express clearly that there is no consensus — and that we do not want HOFA!
Press release: MEP