Between the mid-sixteenth and the end of the eighteenth century, the Netherlands became a major maritime power, assuming a leading position in Europe. They extended their influence through a large system of colonies which, at its peak, included the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia, Sri Lanka and some Indian colonies) and the Dutch West Indies (made up of part of northeastern South America). The technological superiority achieved in shipbuilding and the favorable geographical location were at the origin of maritime supremacy: the Netherlands overlooks the North Sea and was able to benefit from the extensive system of regional and world trade routes and trade inherited from the Hanseatic League. Having become one of the most important European commercial centers (still today the port of Rotterdam is the busiest on the continent), they have however lost their dominion over the seas over time and, after World War II, they gradually lost their colonies, which became independent. Only the constituent nations of the Netherlands Antilles, which dissolved in October 2010, formally remain part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. The policy of neutrality, adopted in the first half of the nineteenth century, was abandoned at the end of the Second World War, when the occupation by the Nazi troops forced the ruling house to a temporary exile. Since the Second World War, the country has set its foreign policy on stable guidelines, first and foremost in favor of the process of European integration. Already in the 1950s,Eu), together with Belgium and Luxembourg – countries with which a customs union had already been established (Benelux) – and Italy, France and Germany. The founding treaty of the EU was signed in 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and modified shortly after with the Amsterdam treaty of 1997. A second direction of foreign policy aims at strengthening transatlantic relations. The Netherlands are founding members of the N ato, actively participated alongside the U know some of the most important international missions since World War II, and the secretary general of NATO between 2004 and 2009 it was a Dutchman, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Finally, the Netherlands is part of the main international organizations and promotes multilateralism and respect for international law.
Although the general features of Dutch foreign policy expressed a strong continuity in the first sixty years after the war, there have been some changes in recent times. Anti-Europeanism has grown strongly in national public opinion (in 2005 the referendum on the European Constitution was rejected by 62% of voters), a trend that was reconfirmed in the last European elections in May 2014, despite the 2012 legislative elections having rewarded the pro-European candidate and liberal Mark Rutte. For Netherlands political system, please check computerminus.com.
Institutional organization and internal politics
In April 2013, King William Alexander ascended the throne, succeeding his mother, Queen Beatrix, who had ruled since 1980. The role of the monarch is not only symbolic, as any act of parliament requires the ratification of the sovereign, who also contributes to the formation of governments and chairs the Council of State.
The Lower House, which holds the greatest powers, is made up of 150 members, elected by popular vote for four years. The Senate is made up of 75 members, chosen every four years through indirect elections involving the twelve provincial councils of the country, and meets in ordinary session once a week. The Senate can reject bills, but cannot amend them or propose new ones. Since the Second World War, the proportional electoral law and the fragmentation of Dutch society in the confessional (between Catholics, Protestants and non-practitioners) and politics (between socialists and conservatives) have led to the natural adoption of a method of formation of governments designed to avoid conflicts, defined as ‘consociative democracy’. Among the peculiar elements of this model, and of the Dutch political system, there is the constant succession of large coalitions, which try to gather the widest possible consensus around the political guidelines to be given to the country. In the Netherlands these coalitions have generally been led by the Labor Party (Partij van de Arbeid,Pvda) or by conservative religious-based parties – first by Catholics and then, from the second half of the 1970s, by the Christian Democratic Appeal (Christen Democratisch Appèl, Cda), a formation born from the merger of Catholic and Protestant parties. As has happened in foreign policy, also on the domestic front there have been some important changes in the last decade. The coalition government of Jan Balkenende (C da), in which the Pvda and the small Christian Union (Christen Unie, Cu), at the helm of the country between 2002 and 2010, risked falling several times due to the differences in the program of the parties. The emergence of a strong xenophobic and anti-Islamic sentiment found its confirmation in the political elections of June 2010 which recorded the advance of the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, P vv) of Geert Wilders, leader of the populist right and in favor of strongly hostile policies towards immigrants. With the political elections of September 2012, the Freedom Party confirmed its number of seats, 15, despite a moderate decline in preferences.
In November 2012, the formation of a ‘grand coalition’ government between center-right liberals (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, V vd) and the center-left party Pvda, just two months after the general elections of September 2012, it unblocked the situation and gave political stability to the country. Although the government holds the majority of seats in the lower house (79 out of 150), only 30 parliamentarians support it in the Senate, where the political preferences of 2011 are still reflected, when right-wing parties obtained a larger share. of votes. Without a governing majority in both houses, delays or interruptions in the process of adopting new laws are more frequent. However, there was no lack of positive signs. The two governing parties were able to pass some key laws for the national economy, such as the one on pensions passed in the Senate at the end of 2013, thanks to the support of three smaller opposition parties. The government estate, austerity in economic policies in response to the crisis, and suffered a defeat in the 2014 European elections, won by the libertarian party D66.
