Organization

In 2008, the Delta Commission, led by former minister Cees Veerman, recommended that a Delta Act be drawn up. This Act was to include the appointment of a national director of the Delta Programme, the Delta Programme Commissioner.

Role of the Delta Programme Commissioner

The Delta Programme Commissioner acts as a Government Commissioner under the direct responsibility of the coordinating member of the administration, the Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management. He is positioned at the centre of the administrative field that surrounds the Delta Programme. He will independently advise, support and represent the Vice Minister. He is also a consultant to the Delta Programme Ministerial Steering Group (MSD) chaired by the Prime Minister. The Ministerial Steering Group includes the Ministers of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM); Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV); the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK); Economic Affairs (EZ) and Finance. The Delta Programme Commissioner participates in the Ministerial Steering Group as an expert with an advisory vote.  He can advise the members of the Steering Group independently and if necessary propose that they use their authority in order to prevent delays in the progress of the Delta Programme.  

The Delta Programme Commissioner steers the Delta Programme in terms of cohesion and progress. He aims to create and maintain a support base for the measures and the Programme as a whole among all the administrative tiers involved. His focus is not only on the state but on all the parties involved in the Delta Programme. In this regard, he regularly consults the administrative bodies involved and, if necessary, he can propose that they use their authority should the progress of the Delta Programme threaten to stagnate. The Delta Programme Commissioner furthers the support base for the Delta Programme through contact with all the authorities and civil society organisations involved.

Every year, the Delta Programme Commissioner makes a proposal for the Delta Programme. He is responsible for the content of this proposal as well as for the process of drawing it up. The Delta Programme Commissioner therefore is in close contact with the involved ministries, water boards, provinces and municipalities. The Delta Programme is discussed in the Ministerial Steering Group and is approved by the Council of Ministers. The proposal as it will be submitted to the Lower House will set out the extent to which the proposal and recommendations of the Delta Commissioner have been adopted. The Delta Programme Commissioner’s efforts are aimed at drawing up the package of measures for the Delta Programme that is ultimately approved by the Lower House. In this way, the Lower House determines the scope of the Delta Programme Commissioner’s activities. The Delta Programme Commissioner monitors the progress and implementation of the Delta Programme and he advises the coordinating member of the administration, the Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management with a view to the annual accountability day before the Lower House (every year on the third Wednesday of May). In addition, the Delta Programme Commissioner can advise the Ministerial Steering Group, its individual members or other administrators. 

Consultation with the parties involved is an important instrument in the work of the Delta Programme Commissioner, as is having access to information. Due to their importance, both these aspects are included in the draft Delta Act. The legislative proposal sets out that regular consultation must take place between the Delta Programme Commissioner and the decentralised authorities involved in the Delta Programme. This guarantees that at the administrative level, regular coordination takes place about, for example, the progress of projects and about proposals for the Delta Programme. Furthermore, the Act gives the Delta Programme Commissioner the authority, if necessary, to request information that must be supplied to the relevant ministers within the framework of the statutory obligation to provide information. Wherever possible, the Delta Programme Commissioner makes use of existing reports, information channels and consultation structures between the authorities concerned.

Delta Programme Commissioner’s staff

The Delta Programme Commissioner has his own staff supporting him in his work. The Staff of the Delta Programme Commissioner currently comprises fourteen persons who are introduced below.