Page 13 - Aanbevelingen om de integriteit

of the cases a member of government resigned because of declarations based on incorrect data in a
previous job.

Awareness

52. The Handbook for Ministers and State Secretaries outlines the rights and obligations of
ministers and state secretaries in some situations of conflicts of interests, e.g. dealing with gifts,
secondary positions, secondary activities, official trips etc. It has been used for many years and PTEFs
are supposed to be aware of its content. The “Manual, which is a public document, can be consulted
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on the website of the Central Public Administration . This document is complemented by circulars
and letters addressed by the PM and ministers. The 2002 letter to the House of Representatives on
the handling of corruption risks and conflicts of interests, is also a public document. Furthermore, at
the start of a government’s term of office, the Prime Minister informs the House of Representatives
stating the arrangements that have been made by ministers and state secretaries concerning
situations of incompatible interests etc. that have been dealt with in the formation process (see
above, paragraph 21).

53. The GET notes that the Handbook for Ministers and State Secretaries and circulars are not
supported by a dedicated strategy, structure or mechanism to more actively providing advice,
counselling and awareness to PTEFs. It was told that, when necessary, ministers and state secretaries
can seek advice from the Prime Minister, from colleague ministers/state secretaries, the secretary-
general or any other trusted person. The GET takes the view that more needs to be done to establish
a pro-active and harmonised approach in respect of PTEFs’ (including political assistants, as
appropriate) awareness of situations of conflicting interests and corruption prevention. It is of the
opinion that channels to communicate, if needed on a confidential basis, on dilemmas of PTEFs
should be more clearly defined, consolidating the institutional memory and practices. It would
therefore be useful to designate someone at government level, as appropriate, as a confidential
counsellor for PTEFs. Furthermore, training is reportedly not provided to the PTEFs in this respect.
Consequently, GRECO recommends (i) establishing confidential counselling to persons entrusted
with top executive functions on integrity related issues, conflicts of interest etc.; and (ii) raising the
awareness of integrity matters among persons entrusted with top executive functions, including
through training at regular intervals.

Transparency and oversight of executive activities of central government

Access to information

54. Article 110 of the Constitution stipulates that the public administration must allow ‘public
access in accordance with rules to be prescribed by Act of Parliament during the performance of its
duties. These rules are set out in the Government Information (Public Access) Act (WOB). The
underlying principle of this law is that information in the possession of public bodies regarding
administrative matters is public as a main rule. Exceptions to the main rule can only be justified if
provided for in law.

55. The GET notes that the letter which the formateur (future PM) sends to the House of
Representatives following the formation interview, possibly containing arrangements to resolve
(potential) conflicts of interests, is made public.

56. The Handbook for Ministers and State Secretaries details the procedure for access to
information requests. In principle, each government body is responsible for handling such requests,
sometimes in conjunction with the policy department. Requests that cover several or all ministries

17 See https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/richtlijnen/2017/10/03/handboek-voor-bewindspersonen

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