There will be stricter rules for (former) ministers who want to accept a new job. This is to prevent conflicts of interest and unwanted lobbying activities, writes outgoing minister Ollongren to the House of Representatives. The cabinet is introducing the extension of the rules at the insistence of the House.
The discussion about improper influence and conflicts of interest after a political career recently flared up after Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, former Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, switched to the business world. She is now president of the trade association of energy companies.
When tightening the rules, the government took into account the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).
Cooling off period
For example, a former minister or state secretary will no longer only be banned from lobbying in the area where he or she was administratively active, but also no longer allowed to do so in related policy areas in which he or she was actively involved.
In practice, ministers are also active in areas that formally fall under another department. It is still allowed to join a lobby organization, but lobby contacts with one’s own ministry or a ministry adjacent to it are no longer allowed.
Furthermore, former cabinet members are not allowed to join their former ministry as civil servants or accept commercial assignments from them for two years. A position on an advisory committee remains possible. There will also be a ‘cooling off period’ for former ministers: from now on they must ask an independent committee for advice about the admissibility of their new job.
The extension of the lobbying ban to related policy areas is effective immediately, Ollongren said in her letter. The law must be amended for the other tightening up.
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