Declarations
Articles:
Declaration of 18 October 2010
The Kingdom of the Netherlands consisted of three parts: the
Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Netherlands
Antilles consisted of the islands of Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire,
Sint Eustatius and Saba.
With effect from 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles ceased to
exist as a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since that date, the
Kingdom consists of four parts: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint
Maarten. Curaçao and Sint Maarten enjoy internal self-government within
the Kingdom, as Aruba and, up to 10 October 2010, the Netherlands
Antilles do.
These changes constitute a modification of the internal constitutional
relations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of the
Netherlands will accordingly remain the subject of international law
with which agreements are concluded. The modification of the structure
of the Kingdom will therefore not affect the validity of the
international agreements ratified by the Kingdom for the Netherlands
Antilles. These agreements, including any reservations made, will
continue to apply to Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
The other islands that have formed part of the Netherlands Antilles -
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba - became part of the Netherlands, thus
constituting 'the Caribbean part of the Netherlands'. The agreements
that applied to the Netherlands Antilles will also continue to apply to
these islands; however, the Government of the Netherlands will now be
responsible for implementing these agreements.