News item | 04-03-2024 | 10:19
The laws that regulate the administrative and financial relationships between the Netherlands and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba will be amended. A three-day working conference will therefore take place from Monday 4 to Wednesday 6 March on the amendment of the BES Public Entities Act and the BES Public Entities Finance Act (WolBES and FinBES). The working conference is an additional step in the consultation process and concludes the consultation period. Participants in the working conference are the island council members and administrators of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba and State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen of Kingdom Relations and Digitalization.
Completion of consultation process
The legislative amendment to the WolBES and the FinBES is necessary to improve the administrative and financial relationships between the public bodies and the European Netherlands. The aim of the working conference is to conclude the consultation on the bill. The conference is an extra step within the consultation. It was organized at the request of the islands and the agenda was prepared jointly. A number of substantive points from the bill will be discussed during the conference. In addition, a number of themes that fall outside the bill are discussed. The cooperative relationship and mutual working methods between the government and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are also on the agenda of the working conference.
Investing in trust
The WolBES and FinBES came into effect in 2010. The WolBES states how the public bodies are organized. The FinBES states how the financial relationships and financial supervision are regulated. The laws are being amended in response to, among other things, an advice from the Council of State from 2019. The principle of mutual trust is the starting point when revising the law. In recent years, a lot of knowledge and experience has been gained about how these laws work in practice. More insight has been gained into what is going well and where improvement is possible. The proposed legislative changes further invest in mutual trust and further local autonomy.
Most important changes in WolBES and FinBES
To increase local autonomy, various forms of supervision of finances and the budget will be introduced. If the public body does not have its budget or financial management in order, financial supervision is intensified. If a public body performs properly, there is light supervision. To strengthen local democracy, the number of island council members and deputies will be increased and they will receive more support. In addition, the position of the Kingdom Representative will be abolished. Some of the tasks go to the lieutenant governor. Furthermore, the intention is to make administrative supervision of the implementation of island tasks simpler and more flexible. The legislative changes contribute to a better functioning and more effective government and less bureaucracy in the interests of the residents of the three islands.
There have been regular consultations about the proposed legislative changes with the public bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. In addition, advice was requested from various stakeholders, including the Caribbean Netherlands National Agency, the acting Kingdom Representative, the Financial Supervision Board of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba and the various departments. Residents were also able to give their opinion about the proposed change in the law during an internet consultation.