The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom ( nl, Ministerraad van het Koninkrijk or ''Rijksministerraad'') is the executive council of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

, which is a state consisting of four constituent countries:

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

. The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom consists of the

Council of Ministers of the Netherlands The Council of Ministers ( nl, Ministerraad) is the executive council of Dutch Government, formed by all the ministers including the deputy prime ministers. This executive council initiates laws and policy. The Council of Ministers is distinct from ...

complemented by one

Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba The Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba ( nl, Gevolmachtigde Minister van Aruba) represents the constituent country of Aruba in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The current Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba is Guillfred ...

, one

Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao The Minister plenipotentiary (Netherlands), Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao ( nl, Gevolmachtigd Minister van Curaçao) represents the constituent country ( nl, land) of Curaçao in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. T ...

, and one

Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten The Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten ( nl, Gevolmachtigd Minister van Sint Maarten) represents the constituent country of Sint Maarten in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The current Minister Plenipotentiary is Re ...

. The

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

chairs the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. Together with the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom forms the Government of the Kingdom, also known as the Crown. A significant difference between the Netherlands Ministers and the Ministers Plenipotentiary is that the former Ministers are accountable for their politics and policies to the Dutch parliament. The Ministers Plenipotentiary, however, are accountable to their national governments. Therefore, the Ministers Plenipotentiary usually do not resign in the event of a Dutch cabinet crisis. Though the Kingdom of the Netherlands is statutorily distinguished from its constituent country of the

, the Council of Ministers, while mentioned in the Statute is, according to Article 5 of the Statute regulated by the Constitution. With adaptions regulated by the Statute for circumstances the Statute provides for certain situations, being affairs of the Kingdom that directly affect Curaçao, Aruba or Sint Maarten. Laws applicable to the whole Kingdom are known as Kingdom Acts. An example of such a law is the "Kingdom Act regarding Dutch citizenship" ( nl, Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap).

References

Articles needing additional references from August 2018 All articles needing additional references {{Netherlands-gov-stub