Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands agree to Mutual Regulation for cooperation on reforms

THE HAGUE, the Netherlands, April 04, 2023 – With the signatures of the Prime Ministers of
Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the state secretary of Kingdom Relations under a new Mutual
Regulation, 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.

For 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. For instance, the governments of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten commit to working
on the implementation of reforms for the next four years. In turn, the Netherlands commits to
providing the necessary support to implement the reforms. This will be done by providing
implementation capacity and financial resources.

Based on the new Mutual Regulation, the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom, each, together with
the Netherlands, draw up implementation agendas. These contain measures and projects aimed at the
realization of the intended reforms within the public sector. Implementation of the reforms is
primarily the responsibility of those countries' government.

In the Caribbean countries, the responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the reforms lies
with the Ministers of General Affairs and the implementing organizations 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 organization, 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.