A motion to delay the decision on who will build the new Dutch submarines has been rejected. It means French Naval Group is nearly certain that it will build the four new submarines. The only possible remaining stumbling block is the court case brought by Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
Following last week’s debate on 3 June, several motions were put up for a vote, of which the one by Member of Parliament Chris Stoffer (political party) would have the most impact. He proposed to postpone the decision on who will build the four new submarines for the Royal Netherlands Navy until the new government has been installed. He hoped the new Cabinet might change its mind and that the contract would end up with the Saab-Damen combination after all.
A majority voted against this motion, however, which depended on the support of Dutch political party PVV. It means there is now almost nothing standing in the way for State Secretary of Defence Christophe van der Maat or his successor to conclude the contract with Naval in the summer.
Van der Maat says on X: ‘Very pleased with the broad support from the House of Representatives for the Cabinet’s submarine contract decision. After many years, this concludes the parliamentary process. I thank everyone from Defence who contributed to this. I look forward to the next steps with confidence.’
Also read: Debate on Dutch submarines does not lead to definitive yes
Last hurdle
The last hurdle to take will now be a court case filed by the third contender for the multi-billion-euro contract, German Thyssenkrupp. This company decided to taken the Dutch government to court over the choice for Naval. According to Marineschepen.nl, this court case will take place on 26 June.
Picture: Artist impression of the new submarine (by Dutch Ministry of Defence).
Also read: TKMS to court over Dutch submarines, Saab-Damen leaves it to Parliament
