News item | 20-06-2025 | 15:20
The Netherlands should not be naive in the approach to corruption, because criminal organizations cannot function without corruption. By putting pressure on people or to buy, they get access to valuable information and can influence processes and to control them. That is why the Minister of Justice and Security and the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations present a government -wide approach to corruption, as announced in the government program, which builds on the initiatives that are already running and proven results. This means that governments, implementing organizations and companies in vulnerable sectors, such as the transport and logistics sector, map their vulnerable business processes and vulnerable functions and get to work thereby. The government is committed to preventing corruption, with the government and the business community and from large to small.
Minister Van Weel of Justice and Security: ‘It is often criminals to do information, data, access to a market, or a possibility to launch money white. They need help from the inside. So they recruit employees and that is not gentle. Everyone within a company or an organization needs protection against this. From the municipal official who provides passports up to and including the port employee who checks containers in the ports whether the transport company that exports goods. With this approach we put criminals offside and we tackle corruption and undermining. “
Minister Uitermark of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: ‘The combating of corruption is an important pillar to strengthen the resilience and integrity of public administration. For trust in our government it is of the utmost importance to protect our officials and administrators against the influence of criminals. This anti-corruption approach must contribute to a safer working environment, but also to a safer society. ”
For example, the approach states that processes must be set up in such a way that it is becoming increasingly difficult to ‘do a job for a criminal’, to support your non-integer or to commit corruptions. To scare drug criminals to engage employees for abuse of flower transports for drug smuggling, a drug dog is present at the flower auction at unpredictable moments. Not only do the dogs help find drugs, this working method also gives employees a stronger position when they are approached by criminals. In addition, work is also being done on a stricter authorization management of IT systems, which is considerably limited to access to a system and therefore risks for leaking information to criminals.
The WODC is investigating where the Netherlands are the largest corruption risks and to what extent current practice is tailored to this. The outcome is expected to follow early next year. In the meantime, the cabinet is immediately going to work with some specific processes and sectors whose interests for national security and economy are so great that we have to pick them up energetically. In any case, this applies to the business operations, the issuing process of travel and identity documents, the resilience of officials in local authorities and the transport and logistics sector.
In addition to solid preventive measures, the government is structurally investing in the National Criminal Investigation Department, FIOD, Public Prosecution Service and the case law to detect and punish corruption and criminal interference. The Netherlands is also working with other EU member states on an EU anti-corruption guideline. This contains various (new) offenses, equalizes the minimum maximum sentences and prescription periods for corruption within the EU and contains preventive regulations, such as periodic national risk analyzes and anti -corruption training for all officials and organizations affiliated with the government.