Ministry of General Affairs (Netherlands)

Ministry of General Affairs

Ministerie van Algemene Zaken
Coat of arms of the Netherlands
Building of the Ministry of General Affairs
Department overview
Formed	3 July 1937 (1937-07-03)
Jurisdiction	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Headquarters	Binnenhof 19, The Hague, Netherlands
Employees	400
Annual budget	€1,7 million (2015)[1]
Minister responsible	Mark Rutte, Minister of General Affairs
Website	Ministry of General Affairs

The Ministry of General Affairs (Dutch: Ministerie van Algemene Zaken; AZ) is the Dutch ministry responsible for Government policy, planning, information and the Dutch royal house. The Ministry was created in 1937 and dissolved in 1945, but in 1947 it was reinstated by Prime Minister Louis Beel. The Ministry remained small until 1967, when it was greatly expanded by Prime Minister Piet de Jong. Since his premiership the Ministry has continued to expand to the present day.

The Ministry is headed by the Minister of General Affairs, who is also the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, currently Mark Rutte.

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The Ministry is comparable to the German Chancellery, the British Cabinet Office or the U.S. Executive Office of the President, but its designation as a Ministry emphasises the role of Prime Minister of the Netherlands as primus inter pares among the ministers of the government.

The Ministry has three responsibilities: coordination of government policy, the Dutch Royal House, and government communications about the royal house and government policy. The Ministry also houses the Secretariat of the Cabinet of the Netherlands.

The main offices of the Ministry are located in the Binnenhof, the political centre of the Netherlands. With only about 400 employees, it is by far the smallest Ministry in the Netherlands.

The most important divisions of the Ministry of General Affairs are:

• The Office of the Prime Minister (Het Kabinet van de Minister-President);
• The Netherlands Government Information Service (Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst or RVD).

The following are also parts of the Ministry, but operate with a degree of autonomy:

• The Scientific Council for Government Policy (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid or WRR);
• The Commission of Dutch Intelligence Services (Commissie van Toezicht op de Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdiensten).

List of Ministers of General Affairs

For a list of the Ministers of General Affairs, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands.

References

External links

• (Dutch) Ministry of General Affairs Rijksoverheid

Prime Ministers of the Netherlands
Schimmelpenninck De Kempenaer Thorbecke Van Hall Van der Brugghen Rochussen Van Hall Ja. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Heemstra Thorbecke Fransen van de Putte Ju. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Bosse Thorbecke De Vries J. Heemskerk Kappeyne van de Coppello Van Lynden van Sandenburg J. Heemskerk Mackay Van Tienhoven Roëll Pierson Kuyper De Meester T. Heemskerk Cort van der Linden Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Colijn De Geer Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Colijn De Geer Gerbrandy Schermerhorn Beel Drees Beel De Quay Marijnen Cals Zijlstra De Jong Biesheuvel Den Uyl Van Agt Lubbers Kok Balkenende Rutte

Government of the Netherlands
Structure and process Structure Government Monarch and the Ministers, including Ministers without Portfolio Council of Ministers Ministers, including Ministers without Portfolio, chaired by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and one or more Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Cabinet (list) Ministers, including Ministers without Portfolio and State Secretaries Process Demissionary cabinet Dutch cabinet formation 2003 2006/2007 2010 2012
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Cabinets Schimmelpenninck De Kempenaer-Donker Curtius Thorbecke I Van Hall-Donker Curtius Van der Brugghen Rochussen Van Hall-Van Heemstra Van Zuylen van Nijevelt-Van Heemstra Thorbecke II Fransen van de Putte Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Bosse-Fock Thorbecke III De Vries-Fransen van de Putte Heemskerk-Van Lynden van Sandenburg Kappeyne van de Coppello Van Lynden van Sandenburg Heemskerk Azn. Mackay Van Tienhoven Röell Pierson Kuyper De Meester Heemskerk Cort van der Linden Ruijs de Beerenbrouck I Ruijs de Beerenbrouck II Colijn I De Geer I Ruijs de Beerenbrouck III Colijn II Colijn III Colijn IV Colijn V De Geer II Gerbrandy I Gerbrandy II Gerbrandy III Schermerhorn-Drees Beel I Drees-Van Schaik Drees I Drees II Drees III Beel II De Quay Marijnen Cals Zijlstra De Jong Biesheuvel I Biesheuvel II Den Uyl Van Agt I Van Agt II Van Agt III Lubbers I Lubbers II Lubbers III Kok I Kok II Balkenende I Balkenende II Balkenende III Balkenende IV Rutte I Rutte II
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