It gives parliament access to secret contingency plans should the euro collapse

Finance Minister Sigrid Kok has branded the information a state secret because its release would encourage speculation. Further speculation can lead to uncertainty in financial markets, resulting in ‘potential negative effects on financial stability’, Cocke writes to the House of Representatives.

It would harm the international and diplomatic interests of the Netherlands. In that case, the information may be declared a government secret. There are three levels of state secrecy, of which ‘Secret’ is the lowest. Above that are the ranks ‘Secret’ and ‘Top Secret’. Those levels are there to indicate how bad the leak is.

In order to receive this confidential information, MPs must first declare that they are aware of the rules governing the handling of state secrets. Their names are also mentioned. This list of names is available only in exceptional cases.

in a vault

This information is kept in the custody of the Registrar, who is the head of civil servants working in the House of Representatives. Members of Parliament can then view the information individually in a ‘special closed room’.

Neither the House of Representatives nor the Finance Ministry wanted to give more details about what kind of venue it would be. Ministry officials are advising Gok not to comment on any press queries.

No electronic devices

In the same advisory, MPs are not allowed to carry electronic devices, to prevent them from taking pictures of documents or recording information, thereby preventing smuggling.

They are allowed to take notes, but they must hand them over to the clerk who keeps them safe. If the material is handled during a – of course closed – meeting, Notes are taken from safe. After the meeting they must return to the clerk’s office.

With the help of DNB

No agreement has been reached on how long MPs can view the information. Incidentally, Parliament cannot even see the full footage, but only a summary made by the ministry with the help of the Dutch Central Bank (DNB).

These are programs that were developed around the financial crisis that started in 2008. It started in the US but spread to the EU when Greece defaulted on its debts.

There was great fear at the time that this would spread to other countries and collapse the Euro. The fear was so high that emergency situations were created if that happened, Jeroen Dijkselbloem said in 2014. He was then the Finance Minister.

With the economy also in dire straits at the moment, MPs Peter Omdjicht and Derk Jan Eppink (JA21) asked for an investigation into the footage. Only then, says Omtzigt, can they do their job as parliamentarians – to oversee the government – properly.