Dutch House of Representatives wants monitoring of independence of VSL standards lab

Now that the VSL, the lab that manages the national measurement standards, has been completely privatised against the wishes of the business community, the House of Representatives is asking the Ministry of Economic Affairs to provide annual information on how the independence of the institute is and will continue to be guaranteed. On 19 December 2017, a motion to this effect, submitted by Christian Union MP Eppo Bruins, was adopted unanimously by the House of Representatives. State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Mona Keijzer, indicated her willingness to implement the motion on behalf of the government. The first report will be submitted to the House of Representatives in the spring of 2018. The House of Representatives noted via the motion “that independence of the management of standards is crucial for reliable production and fair trade”. FHI, the Federation of Technology Branches, which has hundreds of affiliated companies that have an interest in independent national standards, is unhappy with the sudden privatization from the TNO organization, earlier in 2017 and is therefore pleased with the reaction from the House and the commitment from the Ministry. The industry organization advocates investigating how the privatization of VSL can be reversed. Source: FHI, December 19, 2017