Page 4 - Aanbevelingen om de integriteit

6. Criticism in the Netherlands in respect of the effectiveness in practice of the legal framework
for providing public access to documents and information held by public authorities is worrying and
the authorities are urged to pursue on-going reforms in this respect.

II. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

7. The Netherlands joined GRECO in 2001. Since its accession, the country has been subject to
evaluation in the framework of GRECO’s First (in March 2003), Second (in October 2005), Third (in
June 2008) and Fourth (in June 2013) Evaluation Rounds. The relevant Evaluation Reports, as well as
the subsequent Compliance Reports, are available on GRECO’s homepage
1
(http://www.coe.int/greco). This Fifth Evaluation Round was launched on 1 January 2017.

8. The objective of this report is to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures adopted by the
authorities of the Netherlands to prevent corruption and promote integrity in central governments
(top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies. The report contains a critical analysis of the
situation, reflecting on the efforts made by the actors concerned and the results achieved. It
identifies possible shortcomings and makes recommendations for improvement. In keeping with the
practice of GRECO, the recommendations are addressed, via the Head of delegation in GRECO, to the
authorities of the Netherlands, which determine the national institutions/bodies that are to be
responsible for taking the requisite action. Within 18 months following the adoption of this report,
the Netherlands shall report back on the action taken in response to GRECO’s recommendations.

9. To prepare this report, a GRECO evaluation team (hereafter referred to as the “GET”), carried
out an on-site visit to the Netherlands from 14 to 18 May 2018, and reference was made to the
responses by the Netherlands to the Evaluation Questionnaire, as well as other information received
from public institutions and civil society. The GET was composed of Mr Jean-Christophe GEISER,
Senior Legal Adviser, Swiss Federal Office of Justice (Switzerland), Ms Vita HABJAN BARBORIČ, Head
of the Centre for Prevention and Integrity of Public Service, Commission for the Prevention of
Corruption (Slovenia), Mr Thomas FERNANDEZ, Head of Division, Internal auditing and corruption
prevention Unit, Federal Police Headquarters (Germany), and Ms Marijana OBRADOVIC, Assistant
Director for Prevention, Anti-Corruption Agency (Serbia). The GET was supported by Mr Roman
CHLAPAK of the GRECO Secretariat.

10. The GET interviewed the Chief Police Commissioner, the Ombudsman and the Acting
Secretary General of the House of the Representatives, as well as representatives of the Ministry of
Justice and Security, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Central Government
Audit Service (Ministry of Finance), the Court of Audit, the Whistleblowers Authority, the Ministry of
General Affairs, the House of Representatives, the National Police of the Netherlands (NPN), the
Ministry of Defence, and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar), law enforcement unions,
NGOs and academia. In addition, the GET also had a meeting with one professor researching on
media and former journalist.

1 More information on the methodology is contained in the Evaluation Questionnaire which is available on GRECO’s
website.

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