Foreign policy and development co-operation

Dutch foreign policy is based on the desire to promote peace, freedom and prosperity in the world, and development co-operation forms an integral part of this.
There are therefore two ministers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Development Co-operation.
The Netherlands largely pursues its foreign policy within the framework of multilateral organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Western European Union (WEU).
In the bilateral context, the Netherlands seeks first and foremost to maintain good relations with its neighbouring countries: its Benelux partners (Belgium and Luxembourg), Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries.
In addition, it is closely involved in developments in Central and Eastern Europe, and is actively assisting the fledgling democracies in their transition to a market economy.
INTERNATIONAL TRADITION: The Netherlands was a founding member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the UN, the WEU, NATO and the European Communities (now the EU). To a relatively small country with an economy that is strongly international in its orientation a well-structured world order is vital. This has long been the case.
The Dutchman Hugo Grotius produced numerous treatises in the 17th century, including Mare Liberum and De Iure Belli ac Pacis, in which he laid the foundations of modern international law.
Indeed, more and more problems relating to matters such as the environment can only be solved on a world-wide scale.
But it is not only out of self-interest that the Netherlands is greatly concerned to promote the international legal order and the development of international law. What is at stake are the values - democracy and human rights in particular - to which the Dutch attach the highest importance. Indeed, the first Peace Conferences were held in The Hague in 1899 and 1907.
The International Court of Justice of the UN has its seat in The Hague, as do the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The Netherlands regularly participates in UN peacekeeping operations. It also wishes to strengthen the role played by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in areas such as conflict prevention, peacekeeping and the protection of minorities.
THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION: Europe is in a state of flux, and, in addition to European integration, Atlantic co-operation forms the vital linchpin in ensuring stability.
To the Netherlands it is essential that the United States should continue to play an active role in maintaining security and stability in Europe and it looks upon NATO as the organisation through which to achieve this aim.
In addition, the Netherlands believes the framework should be created, through the WEU, for Europe to conduct operations independently if necessary in areas such as peacekeeping.
THE NETHERLANDS AND THE EU: As a founder member of the European Communities (EC), the Netherlands has played an important role in the establishment of the European Union, the name by which the EC has been known since the Maastricht Treaty entered into force.
The Netherlands has always been in the vanguard of efforts to strengthen the communitarian element in European co-operation. Here too, it is in the interests of the smaller countries in the international community that the rule of law be upheld, in this case by means of the Community legal order.
Supranational structures such as the EU provide a measure of protection against the power that can be exercised by larger states.
The Netherlands regards European integration as an enabling condition for its prosperity and a means of creating a stable environment.
This applies especially to the internal market and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The Netherlands favours the gradual enlargement of the Union but believes that the EU's institutions must be strengthened at the same time.
Together with its Benelux partners, the Netherlands endeavours to play a pioneering role in efforts to deepen co-operation.
The individual member of the public should also reap the benefits of European co-operation, in terms of greater security and freedom of movement for instance.
The Dutch economy - geared as it is to the export market - has benefited enormously from the establishment of the EC/EU, as agricultural and industrial products find their way far more easily to trading partners within the Union.
More than 75% of Dutch exports are destined for other EU Member States, and the Netherlands is second only to France in the EU as an exporter of agricultural produce.
EMU will strengthen Europe's competitiveness in world markets. The Netherlands is pleased that no concessions were made with regard to the criteria for accession to EMU. If a small group of countries takes the lead as a result, they will have to act as pacemakers for the rest of the field.
The 'deepening' of the EU as envisaged by the Netherlands does not mean opening up new channels but making existing channels more effective with a view to the forthcoming enlargement.
DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION: Development policy is an important and integral part of Dutch foreign policy.
The Netherlands tries to promote global sustainable development, the roots of which lie in economic development and poverty reduction.
Poverty reduction focuses on strengthening social, economic and political empowerment. Different government departments now co-operate more than before to achieve this goal.
The Netherlands allocates 0.8% of its gross national product to pure development aid. Sweden, Norway and Denmark are the only other countries to keep to the international agreement on this allocation key.
The Dutch development budget, which exceeded U3 billion in 1999, includes emergency aid and conflict prevention as well as the 0.1% of GNP earmarked for international environmental policy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can deploy these development co-operation funds through three different channels.
First, about one third of the budget is allocated to governments in recipient countries. A quarter is spent through multilateral channels, including UN agencies, the EU and the Bretton Woods institutions.
The remainder is channelled through NGOs such as the Dutch co-financing organisations and the Netherlands Development Organisation.
The Netherlands strives to achieve maximum ownership on the part of the recipient countries, ie to ensure that they themselves shoulder the responsibility for organising and implementing development activities.
Obviously, this imposes certain standards on the workings of their government, for instance. Even more than before, the Netherlands requires sound policies and good governance of its bilateral partners.
In the past, a large proportion of development funds was allocated in the form of project aid.
In the future, greater emphasis will be placed on aid at macro-level, programme aid, and sectoral and balance of payments support. More attention will also be devoted to programmes to strengthen the institutional capacity of developing countries.