Country/Date: Netherlands, April 2015
Partner: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commissioned this exploratory study for the purpose of the evaluation of the Dutch foreign policy in promoting the international legal order.
The Netherlands government has been consistently committed to UN Security Council (UNSC) reform. Its policy and efforts reflect due regard for the two main issues, its legitimacy and effectiveness. For a relatively small and open country as the Netherlands, a well functioning international legal order and international cooperation are considered crucial. Promotion of a
functioning international legal order provides the main motivation for the Dutch commitment to UN reform (2.1). In practice, the Netherlands has been actively involved in the UNSC reform in a broker role, through the Working Group on Security Council Reform and in the intergovernmental negotiations. The focus of policy and efforts has been on improved representativeness and effectiveness (UNSC seats, veto power and working methods). In view of the Council’s lack of effectiveness with regard to acting on the world’s increasingly complex crises, the Netherlands has been playing an active role towards the General Assembly in order to keep these on the agenda – and arguably in order to gain support for its election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the period 2017-2018. However its various positions could ultimately be contradictory whenever it would come to a vote. An EU seat – and the government’s claim to advocate for that – would mean an overhaul of the whole system of the UN system which, unlike the EU, is based on the principle one country, one vote. Its (earlier) position in support of G4 (Germany) seems more consistent with that; but then againWestern Europe is already overrepresented in the Security Council. A better representation of
African countries seems desirable for legitimacy reasons (and could win extra votes for the Dutch campaign for a seat) but could trigger a chain reaction and result in a substantial enlargement, which goes beyond the point of effectiveness; being one of the main concerns of the Netherlands.
Although the likelihood of an actual vote on UN Security Council reform at this stage is low, the Netherlands could find itself between a rock and a hard place.
This study has been written by Marije Balt and Marjolein Jegerings.