Enforce and Tolerate

The Enforce and Tolerate report concludes that the enforcement of laws and rules in the Netherlands has improved in recent years. But administrators and enforcement agencies still do not adequately clarify the minimum level of compliance they seek, what aspects of legislation they enforce less intensively or deliberately do not enforce and what they tolerate subject to what conditions. As a result, the magnitude of the risks facing the public is not always known. It is also unclear whether, how and at what cost those risks can and must be reduced.

The Court of Audit investigated enforcement in seven policy fields: age limits for the sale of alcohol and tobacco, working conditions, soft drugs, oil and gas production, external security for the transport of hazardous substances, the fish quota and the quality of secondary education. In three of these fields - age limits, soft drugs and hazardous substances - there are indications that enforcement is inadequate. The audit found three reasons for weak enforcement:

• imbalance between enforcement capacity and enforcement tasks;

• inconsistencies in enforcement regulations;

• uncertain status of the enforcement standards.

These three reasons should be carefully considered during policy preparation and administrators should involve enforcement agencies in the evaluation of enforceability at an early stage. The tasks that have to be carried out and the available capacity should also be clearly defined.

·Summary in English