The Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the state secretary of Kingdom Relations have agreed to a new Mutual Regulation, where the legal basis has been laid for sustainable cooperation for public sector reforms in the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom.
Besides financial, economic, and social reforms, it also covers reforms in other areas, such as education, healthcare and strengthening the rule of law.
A statement says over the past two years, the reforms have been implemented based on the country packages of the Caribbean countries.
The aim is to increase the economic resilience and the administrative governance within the countries in the interest of their inhabitants.
These reforms are needed to address the various vulnerabilities the countries face when dealing with economic setbacks due to disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new Mutual Regulation is the instrument deployed for sustainable cooperation within the Kingdom. The agreement is based on equality, ownership, and commonality. It also includes mutual commitment.
In the Caribbean countries, the responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the reforms lies with the Ministers of General Affairs and the implementing organisations falling under them.
In the Netherlands, coordination lies with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and is executed by the Tijdelijke werkorganisatie (Temporary Work organisation, TWO).
This way of working is a codification of the way the countries in the Kingdom have worked together on reforms over the past two years.
The Mutual Regulation replaces the proposed consensus Kingdom Act COHO (In English: Caribbean Organ for Reform and Development), which did not receive the approval of the Kingdom parliaments.
