Ban on cell phones for ministers: the Netherlands plays it safe
The new Dutch government only meets without electronic devices. How the German government deals with the issue of eavesdropping protection.
Concerns about eavesdropping by foreign intelligence services have led to the Dutch government meeting without electronic devices in future.
(Image: Carsten Reisinger/Shutterstock.com)
The Dutch government has imposed a ban on the presence of electronic devices such as cell phones and smartwatches at cabinet meetings. Notebooks, tablets, wireless headsets and other wireless electronics must also remain outside: Ministers must lock their devices in lockers before cabinet meetings, Dutch media report.
The reason for the new agreement in the Dutch cabinet is the concern about eavesdropping – and the new prime minister. The prime minister and former Social Democrat Dick Schoof, who was elected by the centre-right-extreme right coalition, has a relevant past: from 2018 to 2020, he was head of the Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD), the Dutch intelligence service for the Netherlands and abroad.
"Completely normal"
The Dutch newspaper AD first reported the change in practice. It also quotes Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp: he considers the ban on electronic devices to be "a sensible security measure". For him – a long-time diplomat – this is "completely normal".
The fact that wireless devices such as AirPods in particular have to remain outside is not unusual internationally: Democratic US presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris was described by Politico as "bluetooth-phobic" in 2021 due to her love of cables –, but Harris' precautionary measure seemed well-founded, as Apple confirmed just a few weeks ago via a firmware update.
Germany has no regulation
No such regulation has yet been introduced in Germany. At cabinet meetings of the German government, which are classified as confidential by the federal government's rules of procedure and therefore take place at the third level of the five security levels of the German system, electronics are normally allowed to remain in the room. Ministers with telephones and headphones at the cabinet table are part of the standard picture here. Moreover, the Cabinet Room on the sixth floor of the Berlin building is not designed for high-security matters, even though bug-proofing measures have been implemented throughout the Chancellery. Instead, the cabinet members have access to alternative, particularly tap-proof rooms for top-secret meetings.
Except for the Parliamentary Oversight Committee for the Intelligence Services, the committees in the German Bundestag also do not generally meet without the usual electronic equipment. However, the Interior and Defense Committees also have the option of locking up electronic devices outside their meeting rooms when confidential or secret meetings are scheduled.
The new rules for cabinet meetings have not yet had any significant repercussions for politicians' social media presence in the Netherlands.
(mma)