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Ministry of Economic Affairs (Netherlands)

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(Redirected from Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands) Dutch Cabinet-level economic development agency

Ministry of Economic Affairs
Dutch: Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Former logo

Building of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
Department overview
Formed17 August 1905; 119 years ago (1905-08-17)
JurisdictionKingdom of the Netherlands
HeadquartersBezuidenhoutseweg 73, The Hague, Netherlands
Annual budget€5,2 billion (2018)
Minister responsible
Department executive
  • Sandor Gaastra, Secretary-General
WebsiteMinistry of Economic Affairs

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (Dutch: Ministerie van Economische Zaken; EZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for international trade, commercial, industrial, investment, technology, space policy, as well as tourism.

The Ministry was created in 1905 as the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and has had several name changes before it became the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1946. In 2010 the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality was merged with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which was renamed as the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. In 2012 the name was reverted as the Ministry of Economic Affairs but kept the responsibilities of the former Ministry of Agriculture. In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality was reinstated but the Ministry of Economic Affairs took on several of the environmental policies portfolios from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, which was renamed Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The Ministry of Economic Affairs was renamed Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The old name was restored in 2024, when the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth was spun off.

The Minister of Economic Affairs (Dutch: Minister van Economische Zaken) is the head of the Ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The current Minister is Dirk Beljaarts who has been in office since July 2024.

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Politics of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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Organisation

The Ministry has currently five Government Agencies and several Directorates:

Government Agencies Responsibilities
Foreign Investment Agency
(Dutch: Buitenlandse Investering Bureau) 		BIB International trade
Space Office NSO Space agency
Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis
(Dutch: Centraal Planbureau) 		CPB Economic analysis
Central Agency for Statistics
(Dutch: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek) 		CBS Statistical services
Patent Office
(Dutch: Octrooicentrum Nederland) 		OCN Patent office

Mission

The mission of the Ministry is to "promote sustainable economic growth in the Netherlands." It focuses on the key areas of "Knowledge economy and innovation," "Competition and dynamic" and "Room to do business."

Organization

The political responsibility of the ministry is in the hands of the Minister of Economic Affairs who is part of the Dutch Cabinet. A Deputy Minister, called the State Secretary, serves as the second-in-command to the Minister.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has also a civil service department, led by the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General. The Ministry of Economic Affairs consists of four Directorates-General: Foreign Economic Relations, Economic Policy, Energy and Telecom, and Enterprise and Innovation. There are also some support departments.

Litigation

Main article: State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation

In June 2015, following a lawsuit filed by the NGO Urgenda, the Hague District Court found that the Ministry was unlawfully violating its duty of care under the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to adequately address climate change and ordered the government to reduce green house gas emissions. Instead, the Ministry appealed to the Hague Court of Appeal, which ruled against the Ministry in October 2018. The Ministry has appealed to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, where the court's Advocate and Procurator Generals have recommenced it rule against the Ministry.

See also

References

  1. (in Dutch) Begroting 2018, Rijksoverheid
  2. Note (May 2019). "Recent Case: Hague Court of Appeal Requires Dutch Government to Meet Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions By 2020" (PDF). Harvard Law Review. 132: 2090.
  3. Verschuuren, Jonathan (April 2019). "The Hague Court of Appeal upholds judgment requiring the Netherlands to further reduce its greenhouse gas emissions". Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law. 28 (1): 94–98. doi:10.1111/reel.12280.
  4. "Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands". Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. Retrieved 25 November 2019.

External links

Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands
Ministry of Economic Affairs
Government of the Netherlands
Structure and process
Structure
GovernmentMonarch and the Ministers, including Ministers without Portfolio
Council of MinistersMinisters, including Ministers without Portfolio, chaired by the Prime Minister and one or more Deputy Prime Ministers
CabinetMinisters, including Ministers without Portfolio and State Secretaries
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