The Senate wants to be able to participate in decisions about the use of corona measures if the cabinet wants to intervene in a new revival of the virus. A majority wants this to be included in the new permanent corona law that is being worked on. Senator Peter Nicolaï confirms this on Saturday after reporting in Trouw.
Nicolaï has sent the cabinet a letter on behalf of almost the entire opposition. Only the signature of the SGP is missing. This gives the parties a large majority in the Senate.
So far, a temporary law has formed the basis for all restrictive measures, such as the obligation to keep a distance or wear a mouth cap and the possibility to close shops and catering establishments, for example. In that law, individual measures only had to be submitted to the House of Representatives and not to the Senate.
The temporary corona law expired this spring, because the Senate no longer agreed to extend it. That is why the cabinet came up with a proposal about a permanent corona law just before the summer. The proposal is currently before the Council of State for advice. The bill is expected to be discussed after the summer.
Senate believes that measures should only be used temporarily
However, the Senate is not yet enthusiastic about the work that the cabinet has delivered so far. Nicolaï calls his letter “a shot across the bow” and warns that support for the law is unlikely if the cabinet does not address concerns in the senate.
In addition to their own say, the senators want to see better anchored in the law that the power to take measures against a corona outbreak must always be temporary. In the latest version of the law, there is still a power for an indefinite period.
The Ministry of Health has previously acknowledged that the law has become an urgent task. The cabinet is taking into account a revival of the coronavirus in the autumn and would like to have a legal basis before then to be able to intervene again. Local administrators were also critical of the law as it was consulted in June.