The Association of Provinces of the Netherlands ( nl, Interprovinciaal Overleg; IPO) is the association of the twelve

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of 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 ...

. The association looks after provincial interests and forms a platform for exchanging knowledge and experience among the twelve Dutch provinces. The IPO also stimulates and takes the initiative in reform programmes. The executive of the IPO consists of thirteen members, made up of one from each province (who can be a member of that province's ''

Gedeputeerde Staten The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (cha ...

'', or its King's Commissioner) plus a

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. The chair is vacant. The IPO's general assembly is made up of twenty-four members of the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

(2 from each province). The office of the IPO presents provincial interests through relations with the central government, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, the

Association of Netherlands Municipalities The Association of Netherlands Municipalities ( nl, Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten or VNG) was established in 1912 by 28 Dutch cities, at a time when the number of tasks delegated to municipalities saw a rapid increase. As a result of this in ...

, the

Unie van Waterschappen In the Netherlands, a water board, water council or water authority ( nl, waterschap or heemraadschap) is a regional governing body solely charged with the management of surface water in the environment. Water boards are independent of administr ...

, the National Civil Pension Fund and with social organizations.

External links

Official website
Dutch political institutions Local government organizations Council of European Municipalities and Regions Local government in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-poli-stub

See also

External links