Schoof I Cabinet achieved less than previous Rutte Cabinets in same time
The Schoof I Cabinet was not very productive compared to the previous two Rutte Cabinets. In the 336 days the Cabinet was in office, it passed 48 new laws and measures, far fewer than Rutte III (82) and Rutte IV (91) did in their first 336 days in office, Nieuwsuur reported.
After a long and difficult formation period, the Schoof Cabinet started with great ambitions in the areas of asylum, nitrogen, housing, and the rule of law. The team of Ministers started a large number of legislative processes, but most became stuck somewhere in the process.
Before a bill can become an implemented law, the Council of State must assess it, and the Tweede Kamer [the lower house of the Dutch parliament] and the Eerste Kamer [the Dutch Senate] must approve it. Of the 48 decisions the Schoof I Cabinet made, only seven became a law.
The rest involved a General Administrative Order (AMvB) or a regulation, which do not need approval from the Eerste and Tweede Kamers and can be introduced by Ministers on their own initiative.
“A regulation is often small fry,” Constitutional Law professor Wim Voermans explained to the program. “It is something that a Minister can undertake on their own, for example, adjusting an application form or rate.” An AMvB is sometimes only a technical adjustment to an existing law, but can also be very far-reaching. An AMvB only has to be approved by the Council of State.
Rutte III and Rutte IV used AMvBs more often than Schoof I in their first 336 days. Voermans was surprised by this. “I am particularly struck by the fact that asylum minister Marjolein Faber made little use of this. The Aliens Act, in particular, offers a lot of scope for this. The fact that she tried to regulate the adjustments mainly through laws ultimately led to more delays.”
The laws that the Schoof I Cabinet prepared but did not implement are not necessarily wasted effort. The Tweede Kamer gave the caretaker Cabinet permission to keep working on several themes, including asylum. The next Cabinet may also decide to continue the process.
