Interior Minister pulls plug on new population register

Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs decided to pull the plug on the modernization of the Basic Registration of Persons (BRP), previously called the population register. According to the Minister, the project turned out to be much more expensive and time-consuming than estimated and is not worth pursuing. He called it a "sad conclusion" on Wednesday night, ANP reports.

Plasterk previously asked parliament for a period of reflection. On Wednesday he revealed that this period is necessary to figure out how to stop the project "in an orderly manner". He wants to discuss the matter with the municipalities, who are also responsible for the project.

The modernization of the BRP started at the turn of the millennium and already cost tens of millions of euros more than budgeted. Researchers believe that finishing the project will cost more money and even more time than estimated. The intention for the BRP project was to create a single population registry that can be viewed online and process changes instantly.

Several political parties called on Plasterk to put a stop to this project. They were unpleasantly surprised by setbacks, because four years ago Plasterk still said that the project was worht the effort. GroenLinks and SP now want to know from the Minister exactly when he became aware of these problems.