Page 9 - Aanbevelingen om de integriteit

allowance of €291.10. Ministers or state secretaries are also entitled to a relocation allowance when
their home is located at least 50 kilometres from the ministry. Political assistants have a gross annual
salary of between €37,000 and €80,000, depending on the pay scale they justify (as regulated in the
Manual for Ministers etc.). The top civil servants (e.g, secretaries general) have a gross annual salary
€ 145.394,51.

30. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the average gross
annual salary in the Netherlands for 2017 is €37,000.00. There is no special tax regime for PTEFs or
any other public officials. All benefits in kind that are given to cabinet members and their expense
claims are published online. The four-eye principle applies to the expenses of ministers and state
secretaries. The secretary-general signs for the expenses incurred by and for ministers and state
secretaries.

31. The entitlements system is regulated by the Ministers and State Secretaries (Perquisites)
Decree which provides that expenses of a ministry are recorded under administrative costs. Under
certain circumstances, ministers or state secretaries may personally pay expenses for the purpose of
their position, but these payments are to be justified and kept as limited as possible. The secretaries
general have an advisory role also in this regard. All entitlements cease to apply immediately after
ministers and state secretaries vacate office, except the entitlement to a benefit or pension.
Secretarial support and transport can be claimed for a further one year only in relation to the
activities relating to the former position.

32. Former Cabinet members (including those who had to resign are paid the so-called “waiting
money“ during a limited period until they have found a new occupation for a period of up to 3 years
and 2 months. The person entitled receives 80% of the salary the first year and 70% the second year,
but s/he is obliged to apply for new jobs during this period.

33. The Central Government Audit Service and the Court of Audit conduct accountability audits.
This includes auditing the expenses incurred for the political top management, known as the
administrative costs.

Anticorruption and integrity policy, regulatory and institutional framework

Anticorruption and integrity policy

34. There is no general strategy or legal framework specifically aimed at anti-corruption and
integrity policy. That said, the current legislation and regulations taken together provide a legal
framework that reflects such a policy. This framework has been developed on an ad hoc basis over
the years, often as consequences of problems encountered. The GET understood that the issue of
public integrity was high on the political agenda in the Netherlands in the 1990s and 2000s, and
resulted in relevant amendments to the Civil Servants Act and the creation of the Dutch National
Integrity Office (BIOS). In recent years, the public integrity issues seem to enjoy less attention. The
BIOS has been dismantled and replaced with the Whistleblowers Authority (see below, paragraphs
51 and 230), however, with a narrower mandate. The current Government programme has few
references to integrity and anti-corruption, none of them relating to PTEFs.

35. In contrast to the civil service or local government, the integrity and anti-corruption
framework applicable to PTEFs is not regulated by laws or a dedicated code of conduct. However,
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there is in place a “Handbook for Ministers and State Secretaries” (The Blue Book) , as well as
circulars of ministers and letters of the Prime Minister or ministers to the House of Representatives
which deal with additional guidelines on integrity issues. The Handbook is a comprehensive
document dealing with a variety of issues relevant for forming and running a government, how to

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

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