Curaçao is still placed under guardianship. In April this year, it seemed that the Dutch Caribbean island would escape this punitive measure, but the Kingdom Ministerial Council decided otherwise at the last meeting before the summer.
The Netherlands wants to put its affairs in order with additional powers to curb the persistent and increasing deficits on the budget of Curaçao. It now concerns an amount of 100 million euros.
According to Prime Minister Rutte (VVD), the so-called "instruction" that allows the Netherlands to interfere more directly with the government of Curaçao should not be considered as an opinion on the current government of the island. "We have a lot of faith in this cabinet," he said after the Council of Ministers. The Netherlands just wanted to help, was his message.
That this is interpreted differently in Curaçao is clear from the government's response in Willemstad. It appeals against the announced measure. According to the government in Curaçao, the budgetary problems are caused by force majeure. The country is directly affected by the crisis in neighboring Venezuela, which has initiated a flow of refugees to the island.
When exceptional circumstances arise, the Kingdom Financial Supervision allows a country of the kingdom to deviate from the budget rules. But the Financial Supervision Council concluded that the budget problems cannot be attributed to the unrest in Venezuela. The shortages of Curaçao have arisen over a long series of years. Necessary measures to reform the economy and bring public finances under control have been insufficient, according to the regulator.
Again, the responsible minister for the largely autonomous island, Undersecretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations, CDA), speaks about a structural approach that is needed. Only that strong intention always remains stuck in good intentions. In this regard, Knops' letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in which he announces the appointment has a high déjà vu content.
In 2012, two years after the entry into force of the new Kingdom Statute, Curaçao also had to deal with a budgetary instruction as a result of financial overruns. And then too, this was necessary to achieve a structural improvement in public finances. The progress would be tracked ("monitored"), but this could not prevent the expenditure from being derailed again. It does, however, raise the question of how effective supervision is.
The difference with the previous designation is that the Netherlands is now actually offering Curaçao assistance in the form of technical assistance to implement the required structural reforms. This assistance must then come on top of the cooperation agreement previously agreed between the Netherlands and Curaçao. But if the cause of the problem is not recognized, it is doubtful what help can mean.
And so the Netherlands and Curaçao hold each other without going a step further. The new constitutional structure that came into force on 10 October 2010 did not bring the promised clarity in the mutual relations. On the contrary. Everything says that almost nine years after that, no adequate settlement has been reached to settle disputes in the Kingdom. Lost responsibilities lead to lost money.
