Dutch PM's Ministry reprimanded for blocking access to public information

The Advisory Board on Public Access and Information (ACOI) has reprimanded Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Ministry of General Affairs for not providing public information requested by Nieuwsuur through the Open Government Act (WOO). According to the board, the Ministry should have “adopted a more solution-oriented and active attitude” when handling the request, Nieuwsuur reports.

In recent months, the ACOI has been mediating between the Ministry and Nieuwsuur over a WOO request for documents pertaining to the government’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic. Nieuwsuur submitted the request in 2021. The Ministry missed the deadlines for responding and eventually decided not to provide the requested documents, ruling them “irrelevant.” Nieuwsuur then went to the ACOI.

“Public information does not belong to the government, but to all of us,” ACOI chairman Ineke van Gent said after the failed mediation. “The handling of a WOO request is not a favor for which the applicant must first complete an obstacle course and then scale a closed fortress. Every governing body must be helpful and open when citizens request disclosure of government information.”

The ACOI reprimand referred to the Ministry of General Affairs’ (AZ) position and statements by now-outgoing Prime Minister Rutte about a new administrative culture. “In terms of an exemplary function, the Advisory Board always has high expectations of AZ as the Prime Minister’s Ministry, but even more so now that it was also indicated during the mediation that efforts are being made to improve the organization of the handing of WOO requests and that the Prime Minister has spoken out in the past two years in favor of the creation of a new, open management culture.”

In April, the ACOI also reprimanded the Ministry of Public Health for its handling of public access requests about the coronavirus. According to the board, the Ministry hindered the monitoring function of journalism and compromised access to government information.