House of Representatives news

The Dutch parliamentary inquiry into the COVID-19 Pandemic visited the UK Covid-19 Inquiry in London from 29 to 31 January 2025. It is rare for two neighbouring countries to conduct an inquiry into the same subject at the same time and with similar aims, which in this case is to draw lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. The chair of the committee of inquiry, Daan de Kort, looks back on an inspiring visit: "It was incredibly interesting and valuable to hear about the experiences of our British counterparts, and to see how they’re approaching this. We can put those experiences to good use in our own inquiry."

"Prince's Day" (Prinsjesdag), which always takes place on the third Tuesday of September, marks the start of the parliamentary year. Prince's Day 2024 was the first one since the elections for the House of Representatives in November 2023. After King Willem-Alexander had delivered the speech from the throne in the Royal Theatre in The Hague, Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen presented the ceremonial "third-Tuesday-of-September"-briefcase to the House of Representatives.

The November 2023 elections for the House of Representatives led to the formation of the Schoof cabinet. This cabinet, consisting of 16 ministers and 13 state secretaries, was sworn in on 2 July 2024. Prior to the swearing in, the House of Representatives held a series of hearings in which the prospective ministers and state secretaries presented themselves. You can read more about the process in this article.

In a hardened political and social climate, the three branches of government have been blind to their inhumane and unjust treatment of citizens. People’s fundamental rights were violated and the rule of law was dismissed. This is the main conclusion the parliamentary committee of inquiry into Fraud Policy and Public Service Provision draws in its report 'Blind voor mens en recht', which it presented on 26 February.

Martin Bosma (PVV) was chosen to be the new President of the House of Representatives. In the second round of the election procedure, he obtained 75 out of the 146 valid votes.

The elections of November 22nd, 2023, resulted in fifteen parties taking seat in the House of Representatives. The Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for the Freedom, PVV) emerged as the largest party, obtaining 37 seats.

Early elections to the House of Representatives will take place on Wednesday, 22 November 2023.

The interests of the people of Groningen have been structurally ignored during gas extraction in Groningen. The consequences for them are disastrous. This is the main conclusion of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into natural gas extraction in Groningen.

On Thursday 31 March the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Dutch House of Representatives via video link.

On Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 January, the House of Representatives will debate the policy statement by the fourth Rutte Cabinet. On Tuesday, the leaders of the parliamentary groups will have the floor. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte will answer questions from the House of Representatives on behalf of the government. This will be followed by a second period in which Members of Parliament can propose motions.

The relocation of the House of Representatives to its temporary accommodation elsewhere in The Hague city centre has been completed. The first day of sittings took place at 67 Bezuidenhoutseweg on 7 September. In this bulletin you can find updates, photos and more information about the relocation and the temporary accommodation.

The temporary accommodation of the House of Representatives was officially opened on Tuesday, 7 September, the first day of sittings after the summer recess. During a short ceremony, Speaker of the House Vera Bergkamp marked this moment with a speech, followed by the official opening.

On 7th April 2021, ms. Vera Bergkamp (D66) was elected President of the House.

The elections for the House of Representatives take place on 17 March. President of the House Khadija Arib calls on everyone to go and vote. Do exercise your democratic right to vote, the President of the House says emphatically. Due to the restrictions instituted to contain the spread of coronavirus, the elections will proceed in a different manner than before.

From 10pm onwards on November 4th, the Dutch House of Representatives will close its doors to public once again. This is due to the new government measures to prevent the corona virus from spreading.