The Caribbean Netherlands (Dutch: Caribisch Nederland) refers to a group of three special municipalities of the Netherlands (officially public bodies) that are located in the Caribbean Sea: the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba,[a 1] which are also known as the BES islands. The islands currently are classified as within the overseas countries and territories of the EU, and thus do not form part of the EU.
Bonaire (including the islet of Klein Bonaire) is located east of Aruba and Curaçao, close to the coast of Venezuela. Sint Eustatius and Saba are located south of Sint Maarten and northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The three islands gained their current status following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010,[6] while at the same time the islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.[7] Distinctly, the Caribbean Netherlands does not include these autonomous countries (nor Aruba) as it refers only to those Caribbean islands that are administrative divisions of the country of the Netherlands, as opposed to the complete Dutch Caribbean which includes all the Caribbean islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The BES islands have a collective population of 21,000 and a total area of 328 square kilometres (127 sq mi).
Administration
The special municipalities (Dutch: bijzondere gemeenten) carry many of the functions normally performed by Dutch municipalities. The executive power rests with the Governing Council headed by a Lieutenant governor. The main democratic body is the island council. Residents of these three islands are entitled to vote in Dutch national and (as all Dutch nationals) in European elections.
Officially the islands are classed in Dutch law as being openbare lichamen (literally translated as "public bodies") and not gemeenten (municipalities). Unlike normal municipalities, they do not form part of a Dutch province[8] and the powers normally exercised by provincial councils within municipalities are divided between the island governments themselves and the central government by means of the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands. For this reason, they are called "special" municipalities.
For many Dutch laws there is a special BES version.[9] For example, social security is not on the same level as it is in the European Netherlands.
National Office
Logo of the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands.
The National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands (Dutch: Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland) has assumed responsibility for taxation, policing, immigration, transport infrastructure, health, education, and social security in the islands and provides these services on behalf of the Government of the Netherlands.[12] This agency was established as the Regional Service Center in 2008 and became the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands on 1 September 2010.[13][14] The current director is Sybren van Dam.[15] The Representative for the public bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba represents the Government of the Netherlands on the islands and also performs tasks similar to a King's Commissioner. The current representative is Wilbert Stolte.[16]
Relationship with the European Union
The islands do not form part of the European Union and instead constitute "overseas countries and territories" (OCT status) of the Union, to which special provisions apply.[a 2] The Lisbon Treaty introduced a procedure where the European Council may change the status of an overseas territory of Denmark, France, or the Netherlands regarding the application of the EU treaties to that territory.[a 3] In June 2008, the Dutch government published a survey of the legal and economic impacts by a switched status from OCT to OMR.[17][18] The position of the islands will be reviewed after a five-year transitional period, which began with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in October 2010.[19] The review will be conducted as part of the planned review of the Dutch "Act for the Public body Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba" (Dutch: "Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba"), where the islands have been granted the option to become an Outermost region - and thus a direct part of the European Union.[20]
Geography
The Caribbean Netherlands form part of the Lesser Antilles. Within this island group,
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Map showing Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba within the former Netherlands Antilles.
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The Caribbean BES islands are subdivisions of the country of the Netherlands and are therefore referred to as the Caribbean Netherlands.
Climate
The islands of the Caribbean Netherlands enjoy a tropical climate with warm weather all year round. The Leeward Islands are warmer and drier than the Windward islands. In summer, the Windward Islands can be subject to hurricanes.
Currency
Until 1 January 2011, the three islands used the Netherlands Antillean guilder; after that all three switched to the US dollar, rather than the euro (which is used in the European Netherlands) or the Caribbean guilder (which is being adopted by the other two former Antillean islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten).[21][22] The decision to introduce the US dollar on the three islands was taken in November 2008.[21]
Communications
The telephone ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code ISO 3166-2:BQ for these islands.[23] The IANA has not established a root zone for the .bq Internet ccTLD and whether it will be used is unknown.
See also
Notes
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^ "Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba" is the listed English name for the territorial grouping in the ISO 3166-1, where the English spelling was corrected with the release of ISO 3166-1 Newsletter VI-9.
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^ Per the Annex II of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
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^ Now contained in Article 355(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
References
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^ "Invoeringswet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba" (in Dutch). wetten.nl. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
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^ "Wet geldstelsel BES". Dutch government. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
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^ "Registering .CW Domains". University of Curaçao. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
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^ "Boneiru, Sint Eustatius y Saba - BQ".
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^ "Delegation Record for .BQ".
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^ "Besluit van 23 september 2010 tot vaststelling van het tijdstip van inwerkingtreding van de artikelen I en II van de Rijkswet wijziging Statuut in verband met de opheffing van de Nederlandse Antillen" (in Dutch). Overheid.nl. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
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^ "Constitutional reform of Netherlands Antilles completed". Government.nl. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
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^ "31.954, Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba" (in Dutch). Eerste kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
De openbare lichamen vallen rechtstreeks onder het Rijk omdat zij geen deel uitmaken van een provincie. (The public bodies (...), because they are not part of a Province).
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^ "Wet- en regelgeving" (in Dutch).
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^ "Statistical Info: Area and Climate". Central Bureau of Statistics (Netherlands Antilles). 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
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^ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling Caribisch Nederland; geboorte, sterfte, migratie" (in Dutch). Central Bureau of Statistics. 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
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^ "Vacatures". Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
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^ "Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland". Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
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^ "FAQ". Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
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^ "Rijksdienst welcomes new employees". Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
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^ "Office of the Kingdom Representative". Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
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^ "Schurende rechtsordes: Over juridische implicaties van de UPG-status voor de eilandgebieden van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)" (PDF) (in Dutch). Eerstekamer.nl. 19 June 2008.
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^ "Economische gevolgen van de status van ultraperifeer gebied voor de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba / SEOR" (PDF) (in Dutch). Eerstekamer.nl. 19 June 2008.
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^ "Tweede Kamer, vergaderjaar 2008–2009, 31700 IV, nr.3: Brief van de staatssecretaris van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties met het kabinetsstandpunt over de rapporten over de UPG status voor de eilandgebieden van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba" (PDF) (in Dutch). Eerstekamer.nl. 21 October 2008.
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^ "Kamerstuk 31954 nr.7: Regels met betrekking tot de openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba (Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba)" (in Dutch). Overheid.nl. 14 October 2009.
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^ a b Davis, Susan (13 September 2008). "Bonaire Opts for U.S. Dollar as New Official Currency". Bonaireinsider.com. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
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^ "Monetary, Safety Law BES islands approved islands". The Daily Herald. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
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^ "ISO 3166-1 decoding table". International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
External links
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Official website of the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands
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Official website of the government of Bonaire
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Official website of the government of Saba
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Official website of the government of St. Eustatius
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