House of Representatives news

On March 23, the new House of Representatives was sworn in. All 150 MP's took either the oath or the affirmation.

Edith Schippers has been asked to explore the various options for forming a new Cabinet based on the preliminary election result. Edith Schippers has been nominated by the intended chair of the parliamentary group of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

National level where possible, European level where necessary. That is the Cabinet's stance on European cooperation. On Thursday 9 february 2017 the House of Representatives had a debate with Foreign Minister Mr Bert Koenders and Prime Minister Mr Mark Rutte about the State of the European Union. Dutch members of the European Parliament also took the floor in this annual debate in the Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives.

What impact will Brexit, the UK's exit from the European Union, have on the Netherlands? The standing committee on European affairs want to get a clear picture of this. That is why on Monday 6 February 2017 a delegation of the committee visited London. The programme included talks with representatives from international think tanks, British parliamentarians and the Minster of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Mr David Jones.

Which issues will the European Commission focus on in 2017? Which of these priorities will be given special attention by the House of Representatives? On Tuesday 20 December 2016, the House drew up it annual list of European priorities, by means of a vote in the Plenary Hall.

The House of Representatives will conduct its very first parliamentary interrogation, a recently introduced shortened parliamentary inquiry. On Wednesday 14 December 2016 the Parliamentary committee of inquiry into Tax structures designated Mr Ed Groot to chair the committee.

The Dutch House of Representatives has a new app: Debat Direct (Debate Direct). With Debat Direct, a single click allows you to watch debates in the Dutch House of Representatives live on your smartphone, tablet or computer.

On Tuesday 8 November 2016 Dutch MPs Harry van Bommel (Socialist Party) and Fred Teeven (liberal VVD) were active as observers at the US presidential elections. They took part in an election observation mission carried out by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), monitoring a fair course of the electoral contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

In order to gain more insight into the Dutch-Turkish community the standing committee on Social Affairs and Employment organised a hearing with various representatives from Dutch-Turkish organizations on 10 October 2016. On Wednesday 5 October a round-table discussion had already been held with experts and scientists.

The Dutch parliament released an e-zine that gives an impression of the parliamentary activities that took place during the Netherlands' EU Presidency.

In the first half of 2016, the Netherlands is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The final interparliamentary conference of this EU Presidency took place on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 June 2016.

At the opening of the sitting of the House on Tuesday 21 July, the Speaker of the House, Ms Khadija Arib, expressed her condolences on behalf of the House, following the murder of Jo Cox, a Labour Party politician.

On Monday 23 May, Brussels welcomed Martijn van Helvert (CDA) and Salima Belhaj (D66), the two Single European Sky (SES) rapporteurs from the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. The rapporteurs visited on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee to discuss the obstacles hindering the creation of a single European airspace.

The issue of welfare in a broad sense deserves greater attention in the political debate. That is why the Temporary Committee on a Broad Definition of Welfare recommends that the Cabinet ask Statistics Netherlands to publish a Monitor on Welfare on an annual basis. On Wednesday 20 April 2016 the Committee presented the report Mapping Welfare.

Members of the standing committee on Foreign Affairs will pay a visit to Ukraine from Sunday 20 March unit Tuesday 22 March. In The Ukrainian capital Kiev they will hold talks about the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine with members of the Ukrainian parliament and representatives of the Government.