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are to be coordinated by the ministry with the primary responsibility for the issues relating to the
request.

57. The law further stipulates that public bodies should also provide information of their own
accord in the interests of proper and democratic administration. In order to increase transparency
about meetings of ministers regarding political and policy priorities. The Cabinet decided in 2016 to
publish online relevant agenda appointments with persons and/or subjects including public speeches
and information on government meetings. Each minister is responsible for the content of his/her
18
own ministry webpage . Since 2012 the expenses of all ministers are made public.

58. Pursuant to Article 68 of the Constitution, ministers and state secretaries provide “orally or in
writing the Houses [of Parliament] either separately or in joint session with any information
requested by one or more members, provided that the provision of such information does not
conflict with the interests of the State”.

59. All regulations that include the employment conditions of ministers and state secretaries can
be publicly accessed online. There is also a special website, where the information is accessible to the
public and presented coherently.

60. The GET recognises that the Netherlands has in place a legal framework for providing
transparency of public affairs under the Constitution and the Government Information (Public
Access) Act (WOB), which as a main rule should provide for public access, if not excluded under the
law. The application of this legal framework is however not without criticism; grounds for declining
requests have been used extensively and the statutory time limit within which the information is to
be provided is often not respected. The lack of an administrative oversight body and lengthy court
19
proceedings further compound the problem. More in general, interlocutors met by the GET pointed
to an insufficient pro-active approach of the authorities and a culture among government agencies to
consider information not public, unless there was a good reason to make it public (rather than the
other way around).

61. The GET notes that the WOB was amended in 2016 to abolish financial penalties for the lack
of timely providing information, to address the large number of impossible requests which were only
being made to be financially rewarded. The GET was informed that the WOB is currently in the
process of being replaced by the draft Open Government Act (WOO). The draft law is currently
pending in the Senate. The authorities submit that the draft law aims at strengthening the system, in
particular towards more proactive provision of information and codifying the right of citizens to
access public information. Active disclosure of information is proposed to be reinforced by obligating
the authorities to disclose various information (incl. (draft) laws and other legislation, information on
government organisation and procedures etc.). Also public bodies will need to keep a publicly
accessible online register of documents and datasets in their possession, according to the draft.

62. GRECO takes the criticism in respect of the WOB seriously. An efficient system providing for
access to public documents and information is a cornerstone for transparency and prevention of
corruption. It would appear that draft legislation is underway, which could possibly remedy some of
the major problems referred to in respect of the WOB, if adopted. GRECO urges the Dutch
authorities to pursue this promising process.

18 See www.rijksoverheid.nl
19 This criticism is not new. Already in 2011 the Ombudsman referred to the legal jungle of the WOB, whereby he
considered that the government used the WOB to put up barriers (see
https://www.nationaleombudsman.nl/nieuws/2011/ombudsman-wob-juridische-jungle) and in 2012 Transparency
International included similar criticism in its National Integrity System Assessment of the Netherlands (see
https://www.transparency.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/TI-NL-NIS-report.pdf).

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