After two years of legal battle, Omroep Brabant finally gains insight into checks carried out by the municipality at manure processor and pig farm Daas from Wintelre. The company previously committed manure fraud and Omroep Brabant wanted to check whether the entrepreneur was complying with the rules afterwards. But Daas managed to train that for years. “It is thanks to the tenacity of the editors of Omroep Brabant that we will see these pieces now,” says editor -in -chief Renzo Veenstra.
There has been a lot to do around Daas’s companies for years. Between 2016 and 2018, Daas violated the Fertilizers Act and committed forgery. In the judgment of the criminal case, the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch wrote in April this year: “The suspect ensured that false information was provided to the government, thus frustrated the control options of the government and opened the door for manure fraud.”
Control on business
The criminal case is about the period up to and including 2018. Omroep Brabant wanted to check whether the company has since adhered to the rules and check how the government deals with supervision. That is why Omroep Brabant submitted WOO requests in July 2023 from the municipality of Eersel and to the national Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
Since then, Daas has used all possible legal ways to prevent the municipality from making information public. For example, in 2023 there was a first so -called opinion procedure, at the end of 2024 an objection procedure and in April this year a lawsuit in Den Bosch.
Democratic rule of law
In the judgment of the end of April 2025, the Bossche court rejected the request not to disclose (parts of) documents. The court wrote in the judgment, among other things, that with disclosure of the documents, journalism is enabled to independent public administration. “The latter is essential for a well -functioning democratic constitutional state.”
Daas disagreed with the court’s decision and went to the Council of State, the highest body in administrative law. With a so -called provisional provision, Daas wanted to prevent the municipality from making documents public.
During the hearing, the counselor of the Council of State pointed out the lawyer of Daas several times that it was too extensive and made assumptions in the arguments that according to the counselor has been in case law for about 45 years. And it is really different, then the lawyer is claimed.
One or two weeks
After about fifteen minutes, the Council of State made verbal ruling and Van Daas rejected. It is expected that it will take another week or two weeks before the municipality makes the documents public.
Renzo Veenstra, editor -in -chief of Omroep Brabant, is happy with the statement. “It is due to the tenacity of the editors of Omroep Brabant that we will see these documents now. But if you think about it, it is reasonably distressing what is happening here. The Open Government Act is there to give citizens insight into this type of data. If we as professional journalists have to make so much effort, how should an ordinary citizen get to his information?”
In addition to this provisional provision, there will be a so -called soil procedure. The Council of State looks deeper into the argumentation of the municipality and of Daas. It is not yet known when this session is.
Other WOO requests
Along with this WOO request from July 2023 at the municipality of Eersel, Omroep Brabant has submitted a WOO request to the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. Against this, legal steps have been taken by Daas. This case is currently at the court in Den Bosch, it is not yet known when a hearing will follow.
Because the documents of these two procedures are about the period up to July 2023, it does not say much about the situation of today. That is why Omroep Brabant submitted new WOO requests from the NVWA and the municipality of Eersel in January 2025. It is not yet known whether and if so what documents may be made public.
