Constitutional restructuring of the Netherlands Antilles 10/10/10

On October 10, 2010, the Netherlands Antilles as a jurisdiction within the Kingdom of the Netherlands will be dissolved. Instead, two separate new jurisdictions, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, will come into existence. The other three islands of the current Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, known collectively as the BES islands) will become overseas municipalities of the Netherlands; public bodies as described in Article 134 of the Dutch Constitution. Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become autonomous parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with a status comparable to that of Aruba. As a result, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, currently consisting of three jurisdictions (the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) will, after October 10, 2010, consist of four jurisdictions (the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten). However, there will be five fiscal regimes, because the BES islands, though part of the Netherlands, will have their own tax regime.

These constitutional changes will not have a direct effect on Aruba’s constitution nor its fiscal regime.