Dissolution Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.

Dissolution of theNetherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles before its complete dissolution in 2010
Date	1 January 1986 (Aruba), 10 October 2010
Location	Netherlands Antilles
Participants	Governments of the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles Government of the Netherlands Antilles Government of the Netherlands
Outcome	Separation of Arubain 1986, complete dissolution in 2010

Map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands and the Caribbean islands are to the same scale.

After dissolution, the "BES islands" of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along the lines of Aruba, which previously separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

Status in the European UnionEdit

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is the Sovereign Nation and a member of the European Union.

However, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten have the status of overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and are not part of the EU. Nevertheless, only one type of citizenship exists within the Kingdom (Dutch), and all Dutch citizens are EU citizens (including those in the OCTs).

The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands agreed not to change the status of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba with regard to the EU in the first five years of integration of these islands into the Netherlands, after which a re-evaluation of the islands' EU status is to take place. The islands thus will remain OCTs at least until 2015.^[14]

The Netherlands secured a provision in the Treaty of Lisbon that says that any Caribbean part of the Netherlands can opt for a change of status to Outermost Region (OMR) if it so wishes, without having to change the Treaties of the European Union.

Ed

Editorial comment:

The participant territorial governments used a combination of Referendum and Round Table Conferences to conclude the way forward, which was duly ratified by the individual islands in 2010.