Central public administration
‘Central government. For the Netherlands.’ This is the motto of the Dutch central government.
Mission statement
The central government's motto is enforced with the mission statement that “Central government works for honest, enterprising and sustainable society. In our democratic rule of law it is important that people and societal organisations can evolve in free and safe environment. To achieve this decisions have to be taken in the Netherlands, in Europe and in the world terrain. Central government weights different interests, invests in the future and acts as necessary while caring for public matters and having integrity and knowledge.”
Tasks central public administration
Central Public Administration is responsible for policy-making, and for drafting and adopting legislation. It also makes sure that legislation is complied with. Another of its tasks is to prepare and carry out the plans of the government and parliament.
Central public administration operates at national level and is made up of 11 ministries and around 200 implementing organisations, such as the Tax and Customs Administration and the Central Water Authority. In total central government employs around 116,000 staff. The government strives to have a smaller and more efficient civil service that performs fewer tasks. Therefore, it is transferring certain central government tasks to provincial and municipal authorities.