What will the Provincial Councils do (elections 2023)

On 15 March, the Provincial Council elections will take place. But what do you actually vote for? And in what way does your vote influence policy?

Dutch governance structure

In the Netherlands, the central government shares its power with other administrations: the provinces and municipalities. We therefore call the Netherlands a decentralised unitary state, which means that decisions are taken at different levels. The different levels of government each have their own tasks, but they also depend on each other in implementing policy. The fact that we have multiple levels of government in the Netherlands has the advantage that government is closer to society. Citizens can address local administrators more easily, which in turn allows administrators to know better what is going on in their neighbourhood.

Duties and responsibilities

The province has several important responsibilities, including spatial planning. Here, the provincial government must answer questions such as ‘Is it allowed to build outside the built-up area in this province?’ and ‘Can this city expand or not?’. The provincial government also makes policy on transport, culture and economy in the region. A task that we, as a green organisation, naturally consider very important is managing nature and the environment within the province. The province's tasks also include supervising municipalities and water boards.

To get a good idea of the issues your province's government is dealing with, it makes sense to fill in a voting guide. Here, important dilemmas are listed, and you can read what the different parties think about these issues.

What am I voting for?

During the Provincial Council elections, you can vote for a candidate Member of Parliament. Statesmen are associated with political parties. Many parties we know from national politics, including GroenLinks, can be seen in the province. That is why the Provincial Council elections are often seen by national politics as a kind of mid-term review. Two years after the national elections, how are the parties doing?

Statesmen are members of the Provincial Council. You can think of the Provincial Council as the province's Lower House; the Provincial Council approves or rejects policy plans, and checks whether these plans are properly implemented. Implementing policies is what the deputies and their officials do. Deputies are like ministers and are elected by the Provincial Council. Together with the King's Commissioner, the deputies form ‘the Provincial Executive’. The commissioner of the King is the face of the province. This person presides over both the Provincial Council and the College of Deputies. Moreover, within the province, the commissioner of the King represents the national government. The commissioner of the King is therefore appointed by the government, for a period of six years.

In the Provincial Council elections, your vote not only affects the governance of the province. In a roundabout way, your vote also determines who becomes a member of the Senate. Statesmen vote for candidates for the Upper House approximately two months after the Provincial Council elections. The Senate assesses laws and has the power to approve or reject them. In addition, the Senate monitors the government.

Now that you know what you can vote for, it is still time to find out who your vote will go to. To do so, check out our voting recommendation by province.