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The Dutch Risk and Responsibility Programme

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jan van Tol
Jan van Tol*
Affiliation:
Dutch Risk and Responsibility programme (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations)
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Abstract

The Dutch Risk and Responsibility programme (DRRP), which builds on the pioneering work that the BRC and RRAC carried out in Britain, is nearing completion. This article describes the background and course of the programme and offers a glimpse of the preliminary results. DRRP has created awareness of the ‘risk regulation reflex’ among a wide array of people and organisations. That term originated during the Day of Risk, a landmark conference that took place in The Hague marking the start of a fertile international network.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 353 - 360
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

1 Raad van State, Jaarverslag, 2004 [Council of State, Annual Report, 2004]; RMO, Medialogica. Over het krachtenveld tussen burgers, media en politiek, 2003 [Council for Social Development, Medialogic. On the forces between citizens, media and politics, 2003]; Commissie Fundamentele Verkenning Transportbelemmeringen (Commissie Noordzij), Weg belemmeringen, van red tape naar red carpet (advies aan het kabinet, 2008) (advice to the Cabinet on administrative burden reduction); F.J.H. Mertens, R. Pieterman, Kees Schuyt, Gerard de Vries (2003). Pech moet weg, Amsterdam: AUP Salomé (‘Down with Bad Luck’); W. Trommel, Gulzig bestuur, 2009 [Greedy Government].

2 Regeringsverklaring 2002 [Policy Statement Dutch Cabinet, 2002].

3 Hectic times in The Hague. A strategy to deal with incidents for the Ministry of Justice. Summary in English.

4 Ministerie van Justitie, Bruikbare rechtsorde, 2004 (Ministry of Justice, Practical Legal Order). A summary is available in English translation.

5 WRR, Uncertain Safety. Allocating Responsibilities for Safety (2009); Gezondheidsraad: Voorzorg met rede (2008) (Precaution with Reason).

6 Peter de Jonge, Wonen onder hoogspanningsleidingen in VNG Magazine 14 september 2011 [Living under high voltage lines].

7 The case of the office buildings was a late reaction to a lethal fire in the Schiphol airport detention centre, although this was constructed from metal sea containers and the people inside of course being restricted in their movements in contrast to office workers. Mark den Hollander analyses this case in Brand Cellencomplex Schiphol-Oost. Onderzoek naar het verschijnsel van de risico-regelreflex (Fire at detention centre Schiphol-Oost. Exploring the risk regulation reflex), a master's thesis at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2011.

8 Better Regulation Commission, Risk, Responsibility and Reghulation – Whose risk is it anyway? (2006).

9 Letter to the Chairperson of the Dutch Lower House of Parliament, The Hague, 25 January 2008.

10 The term public risk is used both in BRC's final report Public Risk – the Next Frontier for Better Regulation (2008) and in RRAC's final report Response with responsibility (2009). Curiously, a definition is only found in other RRAC reports such as Experts and Public Risk (2009) and Standards Setters and Public Risk (2009).

11 Adam Burgess and Donald Macrae, ‘An Experimental Offensive against the Mishandling of Risk in Society: Reflecting on the Pioneering Work of the Risk Regulation Advisory Council in the UK’, 3(3) EJRR (2012), this issue.

12 Author of a critical overview of Dutch risk policy: I. Helsloot, R. Pieterman and J. Hanekamp, Risico's en redelijkheid. Verkenning van een rijksbreed beoordelingskader voor de toelaatbaarheid van risico’s, The Hague 2010 (Risk and reason. Study for a central government framework for the tolerability of risks). This study elaborated on Helsloot's first inaugural lecture Voorbij de symboliek. Over de noodzaak van een rationeel perspectief op fysiek veiligheidsbeleid, oratie Vrije Universiteit 2007 (Beyond Symbolism. On the necessity of a rational perspective on safety policy, inaugural lecture Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).

13 The team for the 2010 project was considerably smaller.

14 WRR, Evenwichtskunst. Over de verdeling van verantwoordelijkheid voor fysieke veiligheid, 2011, p. 12 (The art of Balancing. On the Distribution of Responsibilities for Physical Safety).

15 Sources: DRRP meetings and conferences, some 200 interviews. Research of MP's opinion: USBO Advies, Universiteit Utrecht, Margo Trappenburg, Marie-Jeanne Schiffelers, Gerolf Pikker and Lieke van de Camp, De risico-regelreflex vanuit politiek perspectief: Verkennend onderzoek naar de meningen van Kamerleden over risico’s en verantwoordelijkheden [A political perspective on the risk regulation reflex. Exploratory inquiry into the opinions of Members of Parliament on risks and responsibilities, report commissioned by the Home Office], Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, February 2012.

16 Remco Roos, Reflexen of reflectie?: Een onderzoek naar de omvang van de risico-regelreflex [Reflexes or reflection? An inquiry into the size of the phenomenon of the risk regulation reflex (MA thesis on file at Utrecht University, 2011). This thesis was written for DRRP. See also the article by Margo Trappenburg and Marie-Jeanne Schiffelers in this special issue.

17 In the UK, Simon Webb's study of the way crises over more than two decades were managed by the UK government shows that a significant number of cases has led to disproportionate measures. See <http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/51/1/46338139.pdf> (last accessed on 28 August 2012).

18 Remark during the symposium ‘The Risk Regulation Reflex in Public Administration’ 13 April 2011 (article available in English).

19 The real case is described by Adam Burgess and Donald Macrae in their article elsewhere in this issue.

20 Subtitled versions of both films are available on You Tube. Killer Trees: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3pSHQlNo-I>. Subway safety: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heiWTT7WDWY>.

21 Margo Trappenburg et al., De risico-regelreflex vanuit politiek perspectief.

22 By Michel van Eeten et al.; the essay is an extension of the article which is included in this special.

23 Published in Dutch in: J. van Tol, I. Helsloot and F. Mertens (eds.), Veiligheid boven alles? Essays over oorzaken en gevolgen van de risico-regelreflex, The Hague 2011 (Safety above all? Essays on causes and effects of the risk-regulation reflex).

24 Published in Dutch: J. van Tol, De risico-regelreflex in het openbaar bestuur, in ‘Magazine Nationale Veiligheid en crisisbeheersing’, May 2011 (Magazine for National Security and Crisis Contingency)

25 In collaboration with Maastricht University.

26 Nationale Denktank, Zelf Vertrouwen. Adviezen aan publieke organisaties om de vertrouwensrelatie met burgers te verbeteren, 2010 [National Think Tank, Self Confidence. Advice for public organisations to improve mutual trust with citizens]. The National Think Tank is an annual event where some two dozen academic high potentials look for fresh solutions in the course of three months with expert guidance. Neither of the two suggestions has as yet been picked up.

27 Landelijk Congres der Bestuurskunde, Risico Rijk.Risico (in)tolerant Nederland, 2011 [National Congress of Public Administration Science, Risk (in)tolerant Holland].

28 CDA Wetenschappelijk Instituut, De ontregelde samenleving, 2011 [Christian Democrat Scientific Institute, The un ruled Society].

29 These are 15 Dutch cases studies as prepared for the Day of Risk conference, which were later published in Veiligheid voor alles? (Satefy above all?).