The Province of Limburg
Transcription
The Province of Limburg
The Province of Limburg Contents Click on the pictures to go to right page. Foreword by the King’s Commissioner The public service organization History The administrative organization The seven key tasks of the Provinces Getting involved in the Province Provincial government buildings on the Meuse The Flag of Limburg Foreword by King’s Commissioner Bovens Limburg is a unique province, rich in nature, culture and history with a thriving innovative business community. A province that unites tradition with progress and serves as a home and workplace for over 1.1 million Limburgers from a range of different cultural and geographical backgrounds. A province that appeals to many as the perfect location for work, study or pleasure. People love Limburg! Of the twelve Dutch provinces, Limburg is the most education, science, government and business sectors European of them all. We share more borders with Belgium within the region and beyond. Limburg’s unique position and Germany than the rest of the Netherlands. Everyday life both geographically and culturally calls for a well thought- here has always involved contact with areas that are today out, strategic, and responsive policy that delivers tangible located outside our national borders. Our geographical results. Our provincial government is the body responsible location and history mean that cross-border cooperation for overseeing and implementing these policies. has become a fact of life. Limburg is part of four European regions and together with our neighbouring countries This brochure provides further information on the Province Germany and Belgium we face challenges in a number of of Limburg, the Provincial Council and the Provincial different areas. Given its strategic geographical position, Executive, the King’s Commissioner and the province’s Limburg is keen to develop within the European Union into public servants. Please allow us to show you all that the a truly European region. Province of Limburg stands for. Limburg’s economy is also closely knit with those of the surrounding areas in Belgium and Germany. Together with knowledge institutes and the province’s business and industry community, Limburg is hard at work developing drs. Th.J.F.M. Bovens campuses that will forge strong alliances between the King’s Commissioner in Limburg History MINING MUSEUM HEERLEN The region that Limburg encompasses today was inhabited as early as 250,000 years ago during what was termed the Old Stone Age. Evidence of these early settlements can be found in the archaeological finds discovered in the Belvédère quarry near Maastricht dating from that period. Over the centuries, the region has been ruled by the Romans, Spanish, Prussians and French, each of whom have left their indelible mark. After the Napoleonic wars in 1815, Limburg was united under the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. King Willem I decided to name the region ‘Limburg’ after the ‘Limbourg’ castle in the Belgian Ardennes, the seat of a medieval principality. Following Belgian secession in 1839, Limburg was divided between the Dutch and Belgian crowns. ROMAN VILLA MOOK Limburg’s vast cultural diversity is expressed in its variety way for a new future in the region. The economic focus of dialects. But this cultural diversity is also reflected in a shifted to the chemical and automotive industries and office rich tapestry of events, the most famous being the annual equipment and supplies sector. Furthermore, Limburg’s shooting tournament Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest (OLS), knowledge economy was boosted with the arrival of the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade, and the Maastricht University, the Open University and international European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht. In economic institutes such as the Maastricht School of Management terms, Maastricht was the Netherlands first industrial city and the European Institute of Public Administration. This during the 19th century with the production of ceramics, southernmost province of the Netherlands is characterized glass and cement. In 1910, the mining industry made its by its strong European orientation. entrance and Limburg remained the main supplier of coal Viewed in this context, the signing of the Maastricht Treaty energy in the Netherlands until after the Second World in 1992 in the Provincial Government Buildings on the War. The closure of the mines during the years 1965-1975 river Meuse was a momentous occasion. For a more led to the threat of around 75,000 job losses. Fortunately, comprehensive history of Limburg, please visit a comprehensive reconstruction programme paved the www.canonvanlimburg.nl. The administrative organization The Netherlands is a democracy and has an elected government. At national level, there is the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament and the Government; at regional level the Provincial Council of the Province of Limburg (the States-Provincial) and the Provincial Executive; and at local level the municipal council and municipal executive. The regional government is the most important link between the national government and Limburg’s local authorities. It represents the interests of all the inhabitants, businesses, organizations and institutions in Limburg at regional level. The regional government takes the lead where supra-local issues are concerned. These encompass a wide variety of areas such as the economy, culture, planning and internationalization. The regional government works closely with a range of partners such as businesses, educational institutions, interest groups organizations and other government bodies. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS The seven key tasks of the Provinces Provincial policy is based on seven key tasks that apply nationwide: Provincial Council on the Internet Provincial Council Elections for the Provincial Council are held once every The Provincial Council draws up plans affecting The Provincial Council of Limburg has decided to four years. All inhabitants of Limburg over the age of the entire province or regions within the province. adopt a new name: the Limburg Parliament. As 18 are eligible to vote. The number of council members Examples are the provincial roads plan and water of March 2015, the 47 members of the Provincial varies depending on each province’s population. Limburg plan, the Provincial Environment Plan for Limburg, Council represent 11 political parties. The has 47 council members. The Provincial Council meets and distribution plans for educational institutions distribution of seats is as follows: approximately ten times a year. They are chaired by the and for healthcare facilities. The Provincial Council CDA (11), PVV (9), SP (8), VVD (5), D66 (4), PvdA King’s Commissioner for the province. The Provincial also monitors the day-to-day work of the Provincial (4), GroenLinks (2), 50PLUS (1), Partij voor de Council has established various committees to prepare Executive, the provincial government’s executive Dieren (1), Volkspartij Limburg (1) and Lokaal- the different areas of policy. The committee meetings are branch. Once every four years, the members of all the Limburg (1). The latter three parties were newly chaired by the council members. The meetings of the Provincial Councils in the Netherlands fulfil the important elected to the Provincial Council in the most recent Provincial Council and its committees are open to the task of electing the members of the Upper House of the elections, as were 28 of the 47 members. public. The Provincial Council determines the regional States General. government’s general policy. It plays a role similar to that of the municipal council at local level and that of the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament at national level. One of the main tasks of the Provincial Council is to adopt the annual provincial budget. It also passes the provincial laws, known as policies and ordinances. Provincial Council Offices Since the new, dual system of governance was introduced in the Netherlands in 2003, the Provincial Council of Limburg has, in addition to the Provincial Executive (see below), had its own public service organization, the Provincial Council Offices. These offices assist the Provincial Council with everything from providing factual information to advising on procedural, legal or other matters. In particular, the Provincial Council Offices are responsible for preparing and reporting on meetings, and carrying out the necessary follow-up procedures. They also prepare the hearings, working visits and debates of the Provincial Council and its committees and serve as the Council’s communication channel. Finally, the Council Offices advise individual council members on drawing up motions, amendments, proposals and other matters related to their term in office. Coalition agreement The Provincial Executive The Provincial Council elects the members of the Provincial Executive. The members of the Provincial The coalition agreement forms the basis of the Provincial Executive’s entire mandate. In this document, the coalition partners – the parties represented in the Provincial Executive – agree on the goals they wish to achieve in the period between two elections. Executive are responsible for the day-to-day affairs in the Province. The Provincial Executive prepares the Provincial Council’s decisions and sees that those decisions are implemented. Because the issues which the Provincial Executive deals with vary so widely in nature, its members have divided up the tasks amongst themselves. Each executive member has his or her own set of tasks, referred to as a ‘portfolio’. Any decisions are taken jointly. The Provincial Executive also implements national schemes, issues permits and funding, monitors municipal finances and manages the property of the province. Its weekly meetings are closed, but its decisions are generally made public. CLICK ON A PERSON IN THE PICTURE FOR MORE INFORMATION. GER KOOPMANS (CDA), ERIC GEURTS (PVDA), HANS TEUNISSEN (D66), MARLEEN VAN RIJNSBERGEN (SP), THEO BOVENS (KING’S COMMISSIONER), PATRICK VAN DER BROECK (CDA), TWAN BEURSKENS (VVD), DAAN PREVOO (SP). King’s Commissioner The King’s Commissioner is appointed by the Dutch Crown (the ministers, presided over by the reigning king or queen), for a six-year period. The King’s Commissioner chairs both the Provincial Council and the Provincial Executive. He may vote in the latter, but has only an advisory vote in the former. The King’s Commissioner recommends candidates for appointment as mayor, advises on royal honours, liaises with the Royal Family, assists the police in maintaining public law and order, and represents the province of Limburg’s interests in a wide range of matters. DRS. TH.J.F.M. BOVENS King’s Commissioner or Governor? In Limburg, the King’s Commissioner is often referred to as the ‘Governor’. That is because from 1616 until 1794, the military governors of the eighteenth-century bastion that formed part of Maastricht’s fortifications resided in a building known in Dutch as the ‘Gouvernement’. It was also the residence of the ‘King’s Governor’ during the reign of King Willem I. The residence retained the name ‘Gouvernement’. The Provincial Law from 1850 replaced the title of ‘Governor’ with ‘Commissioner’. The King’s Commissioner, however, continued to reside in the building and came to be known as the ‘Governor’ in accordance with previous practices. And so it remained. The buildings which were subsequently built for the Provincial Government were also given the name ‘Gouvernement’, known in English today as the Provincial Government Buildings. The Government Buildings include those in the Bouillonstraat (1934), now the principal seat of Maastricht University, and those opened in 1986 along the river Meuse in Randwijck, a district of Maastricht. The public service organization The Provincial Executive of the Province of Limburg is The entire organization is headed by a three-person assisted by a staff of public servants who are employed in management board. The management board is the most various departments and work on a range of projects and senior body in the public service organization. The general programmes according to their expertise. The Province’s director – known as the secretary – heads the province’s public servants work in a variety of different fields and public service organization and bears overall responsibility. disciplines and have many different jobs, for example He supervises the public servants and acts as the liaison surveyor, lawyer, economist or public administrator. between them and the Provincial Executive. THE MANAGEMENT BOARD JAN SMEELEN, JOYCE NELISSEN, AD DE KROON (GENERAL MANAGING DIRECTOR) Provincial finances Revenues Expenditure Policy-making and policy implementation cost money. The Province’s expenditure consists of the costs of new Like other organizations, the Province draws up a budget initiatives and projects and its fixed expenses, for example presenting its anticipated revenues and expenditure. The long-term projects, road works, funding for subsidized national government is the Province’s most important institutions and employee wages and benefits. An annual source of income: it supports the Province from the sum of approximately EUR 471 million is available for policy- Provinces Fund and with earmarked funding. The implementation within the province. earmarked funding consists of money that the Province distributes on behalf of the national government, for example to the local councils and institutions. In addition, the Province has other sources of income, for example the surcharge on road tax, dividends and interest revenues, and miscellaneous. Getting involved in the Province The Province of Limburg believes it is important for For further information, please visit Limburg’s inhabitants to be actively involved in their www.limburg.nl > Bestuur > Provinciale Staten > Burgerparticipatie (available in Dutch only). province. As a resident of Limburg, you have many different ways of expressing your opinion, and various opportunities to participate in provincial policy-making. These include: • Public consultation process • Interactive policy-making • Right to speak • Referendum • Public initiative Influence after the fact Arbitration and mediation Province or on the conduct of the Provincial government or one of official handling the matter, the secretary of the Objections its employees. Advisory Committee or the external official called in to • Objections advise will attempt to get the parties to arrive at a solution • Complaints that is satisfactory to all. Another possibility is mediation. The public can also express its opinions on decisions taken by the For further information, please visit www.limburg.nl > e-Loket > When an objection or complaint is submitted, the provincial Website The Province’s website, www.limburg.nl, provides all the which explains in a fun and informative way how the latest information on the provincial government and its Province of Limburg functions. The Province also has a organization, as well as press releases, decisions and Twitter account, @limburg and also communicates with the agendas. One special section of the site is devoted to the public through channels and platforms such as Facebook Province’s younger generation, Jong@Limburg, and LinkedIn. Provincial Government Buildings on the Meuse Gouvernement aan de Maas The location of Limburg’s provincial government complex along and even partly in the Meuse expresses the special significance of this complex Bij for de thesituering entire province. van het After Limburgse all, theprovinciehuis Meuse flows aan the full en length gedeeltelijk of Limburg, zelfs infrom de Maas Eijsden is de in the bijzondere south to Mook betekenis in the north. van ditThe gebouw Meuse voor hasdehad a gehele powerful provincie influence toton uitdrukking the province’s gebracht. landscape Immers, and de history. MaasGuided stroomttours doorofLimburg the Provincial van Eijsden Government tot Mook. buildings Deze arerivier offered. heeft For hetinformation landschapon enthe historie guided van tours, deorprovincie themed in visits sterke for educational mate bepaald. institutes: In limburg.nl het Gouvernement > Organisatie zijn>rondleidingen Gouvernement mogelijk. > Voor Rondleidingen. meer informatie over rondleidingen, of themabezoeken voor onderwijsinstellingen, kunt u zich direct op de website aanmelden: limburg.nl > Organisatie > Gouvernement > Rondleidingen. MAIN ENTRANCE GALERIJ Art in the Provincial Government Buildings The Government Buildings on the river Meuse house a fascinating collection of art produced by local artists. During the 1980s, the Provincial Government Buildings fostered a strong appreciation for Limburg art. The then King’s Commissioner Sjeng Kremers (1977-1990) took the initiative to provide Limburg artists with a platform to GROTE STAAT exhibit their work in the Provincial Government Buildings. The arrival of the King’s Commissioner Frissen (2005-2011) gave the initiative a new lease of life with its key objective THE TREATY OF MAASTRICHT being to ‘build a bridge between tradition and experiment’. The current collection contains over 1,300 works. KLEINE STAAT The flag of Limburg A flag for the province was adopted by the Provincial Council on 28 July 1953. This consists of ‘two horizontal stripes of the same height, the upper silver (white) and the lower gold (golden yellow), separated from one another by a narrower blue stripe; all surmounted at the hoist (flagstaff) end by a red, double-tailed, crowned lion’. The coat of arms of Limburg King William III granted Limburg a coat of arms by means of The official description is as follows: a Royal Decree dated 27 December 1886. The coat of arms ‘Quarterly; I argent, a lion rampant double queued gules, combines the arms of the four main princedoms that made armed and crowned or (Valkenburg); II or, a lion rampant sable, up what is now the Province of Limburg until the arrival of armed and langued gules (Jülich); III or, three buglehorns the French in 1794. The coat of arms of Limburg therefore gules, vrioled of argent, arranged two-and-one (Horn); IV reflects the political history of the province. azure, a lion rampant double-queued or, armed and crowned of the same, langued gules (Guelders before 1371) and an inescutcheon argent, a lion rampant double-queued gules, crowned and armed or (Limburg). The shield is crested by a duke’s coronet.’ The anthem of Limburg ‘Limburg mijn Vaderland’ - refrein - Roermond by Dutch teacher Gerard Krekelberg ‘t nachtegaaltje zingt; Waar aan ‘t oud Oranjehuis ‘t lied des leeuweriks klinkt; Met ons roemrijk Nederland The anthem of Limburg was composed in (1864-1937), who probably wrote it at the request of Hendrik Tijssen (1862-1926), conductor of the male voice choir in Roermond that first performed the song in 1909. The song quickly became popular both in Dutch and Belgian Limburg and is now considered the anthem of the two Limburgs, with the exception of the final verse, which is sung only in Dutch Limburg. Waar in ‘t bronsgroen eikenhout Over ‘t malse korenveld Waar de hoorn des herders schalt langs der beekjes boord: refrein: Daar is mijn Vaderland Limburgs dierbaar oord! Daar is mijn Vaderland Limburgs dierbaar oord! Waar de brede stroom der Maas statig zeewaarts vloeit; Download the anthem. Weeldrig sappig veldgewas kost’lijk groeit en bloeit; Bloemengaard en beemd en bos Listen to the anthem. overheerlijk gloort: - refrein - Waar der vaad’ren schone taal klinkt met held’re kracht; Waar men kloek en fier van aard vreemde praal veracht; Eigen zeden, eigen schoon ‘t hart des volks bekoort: ‘t volk blijft hou en trouw; één in vreugd en rouw; Trouw aan plicht en trouw aan God heerst van Zuid tot Noord: -refrein- Colofon Published by Provincie Limburg address for visitors: Limburglaan 10, Maastricht postal address: P.O. Box 5700 6202 MA Maastricht tel.: +31 (0)43 389 99 99 e-mail: [email protected] www.limburg.nl November 2015 15-3442 w w w. l i m b u r g . n l
Similar documents
Untitled - Provincie Limburg
The regional executive is marshalling its expertise, manpower and finances to achieve the targets it has set. Above all, it is working closely with a diverse group of partners, including the local...
More information