Netherlands
The Netherlands has consistently voted against the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW, including in 2023. The Netherlands may sign and ratify or accede to the TPNW, but will have to make changes to its policies and practices to become compliant. At the Volkel Air Base, it hosts an estimated 10–15 US B61 nuclear bombs for delivery by Dutch aircraft.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Non-compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Non-compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted no (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted no |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Abstained |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999, Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1981) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (5 Jun 1975) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | Yes (Civ) |
| HEU stocks | 100–1000 kg |
| Plutonium stocks | Stored abroad |
Latest developments
In a letter to ICAN in October 2023, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Netherlands remained ‘committed to comprehensive, irreversible and verifiable nuclear disarmament’, but it ‘cannot become a member of the TPNW in its current form’, despite sharing the TPNW’s goal of ‘a world without nuclear weapons’. The letter stated that the Treaty is incompatible with the Netherland’s membership as a NATO ally, because ‘NATO is a nuclear alliance as long as nuclear weapons exist. Moreover, the Netherlands has a nuclear weapons task within this alliance framework.’1
In 2022, the Netherlands observed the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, at the request of its Parliament, but the government said in its October 2023 letter that ‘no substantial progress’ was made in relation to disarmament verification, clarifying complementarity with the NPT and achieving universality. ‘Based on participation in the first Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW, the Netherlands has concluded that it will not participate as an observer in future meetings of the TPNW States parties,’ it said.2
Recommendations
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The Netherlands should renounce the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, end the hosting of foreign nuclear weapons on its territory, and ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its defence posture.
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The Netherlands should comply with its existing obligation under Article VI of the NPT and pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.
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The Netherlands should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.
1) Letter from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ICAN, 9 October 2023.
2) Ibid.