Ministry of General Affairs
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The Dutch Ministry of General Affairs ("Ministerie van Algemene Zaken") is the ministry headed by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. It is comparable to the Chancellary of the Chancellor of Germany.
The Ministry of General Affairs was instituted in 1947. Since that year every prime minister of the Netherlands has held the post. Between 1959 and 1963 there was a state secretary added to the ministry.
The ministry has three responsibilities: namely coordination of government policy, the Dutch Royal House and government communication on the Royal house and government policy. The ministry also houses the secretariat of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The main office of the ministry is located in the Binnenhof, the political centre of the Netherlands. With only about 400 employees this ministry is by far the smallest ministry in the Netherlands.
The most important divisions of the Ministry of General Affairs are:
- The Office of the Prime Minister ("Het Kabinet van de Minister-President").
- The Netherlands Government Information Service ("Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst" or "RVD").
The following are also part of the Ministry, but operate relatively independent of the Prime Minister:
- The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy ("Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid" or "WRR").
- The Commission of Dutch Intelligence Services ("Commissie van Toezicht op de Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdiensten").
