The Dutch Council of State (RvS) has issued an advisory opinion on the proposed HOFA legislation, clarifying that while the law limits Aruba’s autonomy, the restriction is justified because it is temporary. The council stated that it did not have fundamental objections that would force the government to withdraw the proposal, though it offered observations for clarification.
The RvS explained that the proposal creates a legal construction based on a “consensusrijkswet” from article 38 of the Statuut, meaning Kingdom law prevails over local legislation. The council noted that the chosen structure ensures reciprocity: the Aruban government and Staten cannot amend the ordinance without Kingdom approval, while the Kingdom government cannot amend the law without Aruba’s approval. The RvS emphasized that the approval requirement is time-limited until the Kingdom law expires at Aruba’s request.
Regarding financial management, the RvS positively acknowledged that the percentage of debt compared to GDP has dropped to 61%. However, the council pointed out that public debts related to Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects are not yet included in the total debt calculations of Country Aruba. The advisory body attributed this to a lack of clarity on which entities belong to the public sector. It noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had to limit its advice to Aruba because of these unresolved issues regarding closed contracts with debt components.
