Capital of the Netherlands Years War, which allowed the city a lot of trade opportunities, but made it unsuitable for the seat of government of the emerging 'rebel' state. Before the institution of the Batavian Republic of 1795 the Netherlands were not a unitary state, but more of a confederation in which the independent provinces and the larger cities and towns were very much politically autonomous. During the seventeenth century, the Prince Stadtholder as official of the States of Holland clashed several times with the city government of Amsterdam about policy, up to the point that the city was beleaguered by the army. Up
Kingdom of the Netherlands derogations will persist: e.g., social security will not be on the same level as in the European part of the Netherlands, and it is uncertain whether the islands will introduce the euro. The special municipalities will be represented in the affairs of the Kingdom by the Netherlands, as they can vote for the Dutch parliament. The current Dutch voting law specifies that the Senate is to be chosen by the provinces; however, the BES islands currently are not part of any province, and it is as yet unsure how they will elect members in the Senate. The Dutch government has