Opposition (45) The Senate (Dutch: Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal [ˈeːrstə ˈkaːmər dɛr ˈstaːtə(ŋ) ɣeːnəˈraːl], literally "First Chamber of the States General", or simply Eerste Kamer [ˈeːrstə ˈkaːmər] ⓘ; sometimes Senaat [səˈnaːt] ⓘ) is the upper house of the States General, the legislature of the Netherlands.

[1][2] The new constitution, which came into effect on 24 August 1815, thus provided for a Senate consisting of forty to sixty members appointed by the king for life.

The constitutional commission, under the chairmanship of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, intended for the Senate to be directly elected as well, but the predominantly conservative House of Representatives blocked this, fearing that the two chambers would be too similar.

Additionally, senators were expected to judge bills with more independence and distance from daily politics, as a chambre de reflection, which was deemed impossible when they would be forced to campaign for direct election.

Its 39 seats were distributed among the provinces degressively proportional to population, and a third of its members would be elected for 9-year terms every three years using a majoritarian system.

Abolition of the Senate was attempted by social democrats and progressive liberals in 1903, and again after World War I, but these proposals could not count on sufficient support.

[1] However, reform came in 1922, five years after a constitutional amendment that introduced universal male suffrage and proportional representation to the House of Representatives.

The state commission which had paved the way for the constitutional reform had also recommended direct elections for the Senate, but the House of Representatives adopted a motion rejecting this proposal.

In 2010, the possibility for party lists to enter into an electoral alliance was abolished, and the number of preference votes needed for a candidate to be elected was increased from 50% to 100% of the quota.

[8] Any Dutch citizen aged 18 years or older who is qualified to vote can stand for election in either house of the States General.

[9] The 75 senators are elected every four years by the members of the States-Provincial of the country's twelve provinces and (since 2019) by electoral colleges of the Caribbean Netherlands and Dutch expatriates.