News item | 7/14/2023 | 15:22
At the proposal of Minister Bruins Slot of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Council of Ministers has approved the bill on rules for former ministers. The bill contains rules on the obligation to provide advice for former ministers who want to start working in the business community within two years of their term of office, the lobby ban and the revolving door ban. This bill provides more clarity about the rules that a minister must take into account if he or she wants to continue his or her career. This is important because expert people from the field are indispensable. On the other hand, this bill also makes it clear to society that this is done carefully. Citizens’ trust in the government is crucial for the functioning of our democratic constitutional state.
Mandatory advice on new job
The bill contains a two-year cooling-off period in which former ministers are obliged to ask for advice on whether they may accept a new, paid position as director or lobbyist. This must be done if a former minister wants to work in the private sector, with a health insurer or with an implementer of the Long-Term Care Act (Wlz) if the position affects a policy area in which the former minister has been intensively involved.
The independent Advisory Board on the Legal Status of Political Office Holders will carry out this advisory task. The Advisory Board will then issue one of the following three recommendations within two weeks: ‘no objection’, ‘acceptable subject to further conditions’ or ‘unacceptable due to (too great risk of) conflict of interest’. If the former minister accepts the job in question, the advice will be published on the Advisory Board’s website within two weeks.
Lobby ban
Until November 2021, former ministers were not allowed to lobby for two years at the ministry for which the minister concerned was responsible. This existing lobbying ban was expanded in November 2021 to include policy areas that fall under other ministries and with which the minister was actively involved during his term of office. With this new bill, the prohibition on lobbying is also laid down in law.
Revolving door ban
The revolving door ban means that former ministers are not allowed to join the former ministry for two years. They are also not allowed to accept paid, commercial assignments from their former ministry. This bill also lays down the revolving door ban in law.
The Council of Ministers has agreed to send the bill to the Council of State for advice. The text of the bill and the advice of the Council of State will be made public when it is submitted to the House of Representatives.