Home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner wants to tackle the ‘improper’ use of freedom of information legislation by journalists, he told a meeting in Amsterdam marking press freedom day.

Donner said he wanted to amend the legislation, known by the monniker wob, to reduce the burden on civil servants who are charged with answering inquiries.
The large volume of work has been generated by journalists who fire off shots hoping to find a scoop, the minister told his audience. ‘That is not an efficient use of time.’
The journalists’ union NVJ described the minister’s statement as ‘worrying’ and MPs from the left-wing green party GroenLinks have called for a parliamentary debate.