Minister Uitermark: “A well-functioning and integral public administration is crucial for society and is of great importance for peoples trust in politics. A significant moment to pay attention to the integrity of officials is before they are appointed. Fortunately, this already happens in many decentralized authorities. With this bill, we establish that this will happen for every appointment going forward and provide clear rules on how this should occur.”
Most provinces, municipalities, and water authorities already conduct a risk analysis before a new official is appointed. They examine issues such as secondary positions or financial interests. This identifies potential risks and vulnerabilities. With the bill, the minister now wants to make such an approach mandatory.
The bill indicates which integrity aspects may be examined. It also stipulates which sources may be used, such as a questionnaire and public sources. Furthermore, the bill provides candidate officials with clarity on how personal information will be handled and who has what role in this process. This way, candidate officials also know better what to expect.
The proposal also clarifies how decentralized officials should deal with their potential financial interests. An official is expected to represent the public interest through their office. Having certain financial interests may create the risk that these are not compatible with the proper performance of the role. Therefore, the proposal states that officials may not have financial interests that conflict with their duties.
In addition to the bill, the Integrity Handbook is available for municipalities, provinces, water authorities, and public bodies. This helps decentralized authorities, political parties, and political office holders promote their integrity policies and clarifies what is allowed and what is not. Additionally, the Guideline for dealing with (suspicions of) integrity violations was recently published. Finally, efforts are being made to establish quality requirements in cases where an investigation is conducted following a potential integrity violation.