The House of Representatives and Senate | Parliament

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Both houses have a number of rights to allow them to perform their duties effectively. Legislation can only come into force after it has been passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.</p></div> <h2>House of Representatives</h2> <p>The 150 members of the <a href="https://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl" class="external" aria-label="House of Representatives (opens external website)">House of Representatives</a> are directly <a href="https://www.government.nl/topics/elections/voting-in-house-of-representatives-elections" class="external" aria-label="elected by Dutch voters every four years (opens external website)">elected by Dutch voters every four years</a>. The House of Representatives has two main duties:</p> <ul> <li>scrutinising the government;</li> <li>approving or rejecting bills.</li> </ul> <p>The House also has the right to introduce or amend bills itself. The government is obliged to provide parliament with all the information it requires to fulfil its duty of scrutiny. This obligation is laid down in the Constitution.</p><h2>Senate</h2> <p><span lang="en" dir="ltr">The 75 members of the <a href="http://www.eerstekamer.nl/begrip/english_2" class="external" aria-label="Senate (opens external website)">Senate</a> are elected by the members of the Provincial Councils every four years, following the provincial council elections. The Senate’s main duty is to approve or reject bills. The Senate does not have the right to amend bills.</span></p></div> <div class="fullWidthSection"> </div><aside> <div class="brick belongsTo"> <h2>Ministry responsible</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/ministries/ministry-of-general-affairs">Ministry of General Affairs</a></li> </ul> </div> </aside><div id="follow-up"> <div class="block"> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer class="site-footer"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="column"> <h2>Service</h2> <ul> <li > <a href="/contact">Contact</a> </li> <li > <a href="/rss">RSS</a> </li> <li > <a href="/sitemap">Sitemap</a> </li> <li > <a href="/help">Help</a> </li> <li > <a href="/archive">Archive</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="column"> <h2>About this site</h2> <ul> <li > <a href="/copyright">Copyright</a> </li> <li > <a href="/privacy">Privacy</a> </li> <li > <a href="/cookies">Cookies</a> </li> <li > <a href="/accessibility">Accessibility</a> </li> <li > <a href="/reporting-a-vulnerability">Report vulnerability</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="languages" aria-labelledby="languageMenuLabel"> <div class="languages__wrapper"> <p id="languageMenuLabel" class="languages__label">This website in other languages:</p> <ul class="languages__list"> <li class="languages__list-item selected"> English</li> <li class="languages__list-item "> <a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/" class="languages__link" lang="nl">Nederlands</a> </li> <li class="languages__list-item "> <a href="https://www.gobiernodireino.nl/" class="languages__link" lang="pap">Papiamento</a> </li> <li class="languages__list-item "> <a href="https://www.gobiernudireino.nl/" class="languages__link" lang="pap">Papiamentu</a> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> </footer> </div>  <script src="/webfiles/1728237806798/behaviour/core.js"></script>  <script src="/binaries/content/assets/government/javascript/government-survey-bar.min-20230526.js"></script> </body> </html>

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The House of Representatives and Senate | Parliament | Government.nl