PHILIPSBURG – Four-country talks will take place on Sint Maarten today and tomorrow. The agenda includes the disagreement about the Caribbean Body for Reform (COHO), the dispute settlement, and the so-called democratic deficit.
The question is whether State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Van Huffelen and the united Prime Ministers Wever-Croes, Jacobs, and Pisas will be able to present an agreement tomorrow during a joint press conference. Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten have rejected the draft Kingdom Act COHO and have submitted an alternative. There seems to be little enthusiasm for this on the Dutch side: Van Huffelen has not yet said what she thinks of it after studying for almost half a year. The CAS countries also have an alternative to the stranded Dispute Resolution for the Kingdom.
Although the Rutte IV cabinet announced when it took office that it wanted to “eliminate” the democratic deficit in the Kingdom, an agreement on this also seems a long way off. After all, deputy prime minister Hoekstra made it clear in a letter to the House of Representatives last month. Insofar as the countries are given more latitude in the drafting of Kingdom laws, this will be “proportional”.
Whether an advance will also be made during the four-country consultations on the negotiations on the loans expiring in October that have been provided interest-free by the Netherlands in the context of the corona crisis is not clear. The option that Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten will be charged interest in the autumn and that they have to start paying off, in any case, casts its shadow ahead. The prime ministers have already hinted that they are aiming for (at least partial) remission.
Bron: Curacao Chronicle