Dutch parliament completes ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty

The Dutch Senate ratified Croatia's EU accession treaty by a great majority of votes (62 out of 75) at the plenary session on 12 April

The Dutch Senate ratified Croatia's EU accession treaty by a great majority of votes (62 out of 75) at the plenary session on 12 April. In addition to the parties that had ratified the treaty in the lower house earlier (VVD, PvdA, CDA, D66, Greens and CU), senators from the SP and 50 Plus parties also voted in favour.

Before the vote, the EU Affairs Committee Chairperson Tineke Strik (Greens) read a statement of welcome to the Republic of Croatia on behalf of the parliamentary groups of VVD, PvdA, CDA, Greens, CU and D66.

Senate Speaker Fred de Graaf briefly interrupted the session so that he personally and senators individually could congratulate the Croatian ambassador and Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans on the “successful completion of a project equally important to Croatia, the Netherlands and entire EU.”

This completes the parliamentary part of the ratification. The process will be formally concluded with a signature of the Dutch monarch and will come into effect on the day of its publication in the official gazette.

The Dutch government passed the bill on the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union on 16 December 2011. The bill got a positive opinion from the State Council and was then signed by the Queen on 22 February 2012, after which it was sent to the Parliament. After parliamentary elections, the bill was approved by the House of Representatives 5 February 2013 and was submitted to the Senate for final approval.

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