THE HAGUE - The Dutch Senate is expected to approve the budget amendment tonight, paving the way for the refinancing of the COVID-19 loans provided to Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten.
This conclusion can be drawn from this morning's debate, in which only PVV spokesperson Alexander van Hattem announced that his party would vote against. He lacks confidence that the loans will ever be repaid and believes that countries asserting their autonomous status should not seek financial dependence on the Netherlands. The PVV member submitted a (futile) motion to use the €1.1 billion in refinancing for businesses in the Netherlands at risk of bankruptcy due to their inability to repay their COVID-19 loans.
Senator Peter Nicolaï of the Party for the Animals had a very different perspective. He had no kind words for the demand made of Aruba to agree to a Kingdom Act on financial supervision, which he believes frustrates the budgetary rights of the democratically elected Estates. "How does the cabinet dare? Which civil servant comes up with such a thing? How humiliating is it to be treated like this as an autonomous country?"
Nicolaï, who used the word "blackmail," finds it "indecent" that Aruba is penalized with a high interest rate of 5.9%. "We are one family; it is logical that the big brother helps and does not punish." He argued that financial supervision is well-regulated based on the current national ordinance. Van Huffelen emphasized that a national ordinance can be unilaterally amended by Aruba, for example, by ending the role of the Financial Supervision College.
The Secretary of State said she found it "very unpleasant" and "truly disappointing" that an agreement could not be reached with the Wever-Croes cabinet on the Kingdom Act that has been on the shelf for almost three years. Now that the interest rates are known, it is clear that Aruba will pay €32 million more in interest annually than if it had agreed to the Kingdom Act.