Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament member Jorien Wuite has a point (see Monday edition). She said discrepancies between the European and Caribbean parts of the Netherlands are starting to create two legal orders.
The current “comply or explain” principle used in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (so-called BES islands) has as point of departure that all policy intentions and resulting national legislation and/or financial consequences are applicable to the three islands unless there is reason not to do so because local circumstances demand custom-fit actions. According to the elected representative who hails from St. Maarten, this regards some 1,800 laws and regulations.
While one can understand her concern, conditions between the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean indeed differ so substantially that separate rules and provisions can often be required. This justified tailor-made approach may become less necessary over time, as the integration process continues.
It is not an issue for Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten, as these are – at least formally – autonomous countries within the kingdom. However, at the of the day all six islands fall under the same Joint Court of the Dutch Caribbean, while the final appeal option for the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands remains the High Court in The Hague.
As for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, their current status as Caribbean Netherlands – just like anything else – is always going to have both benefits and disadvantages. For example, it was reported in the same newspaper that the biweekly social benefits for single persons living independently will increase by respectively US $63 (32%), $22 (9.4%) and $58 (25.1%) per October 1.
For the monthly widow’s and orphan’s pension AWW it involves hikes of respectively $111 (for total of $1,030), $19 ($1,101) and $98 ($1,171). Granted, those are hardly huge amounts, but the trend is in any case positive in that sense.
It’s to some extent a matter of perception, or viewing the glass as half full rather than half empty.
