Dutch citizens will also be screened, says minister

Are any foreign researchers and students coming here to steal knowledge? Do they have a secret agenda of curtailing academic freedom and influencing social debate? Or are these unfounded fears and we should, above all, not shut the door to international talent?

After years of optimism about international cooperation in the field of scientific research, the tide is turning in Dutch politics. This is partly due to reports about China gaining knowledge in the Netherlands to strengthen its army.

Clearing out the attic
In 2022, former education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said the Netherlands was naive and needed to clear out its attic. A bill was then drafted to allow students and researchers to be screened before granting them access to "sensitive" knowledge and technology. His successor, Eppo Bruins, is continuing this line. But people have many questions about the screening process, like who will be screened and for which fields. 

Initially, the ministry proposed a distinction between Europeans and non-Europeans. However, the national lawyer and the Human Rights Board have noted that the government can't do that because this would lead to discrimination based on nationality. Bruins ended up concluding that the distinction is "too vulnerable" from a legal point of view, so both Dutch citizens and foreigners will have to be subjected to the screening. 

Pros and cons
The minister believes that doing so has pros and cons. Among the pros is the fact that foreign students and researchers with any malintent will not be able to evade the screening by obtaining a residence permit from another European country. In addition, the screening itself will have to be more sophisticated, with the minister envisaging screening at the project and research line levels. 

As for the cons, a spokesperson for the minister mentioned that the government will have to screen more people. "It was going to be a few thousand students and researchers and now it will be one and a half times as many." The minister hasn't made up his mind yet about the fields that will be screened and the governmental body that will carry it out. "Most of all, I'm looking at effectiveness, proportionality and feasibility."

It could be years before the screening process starts. Bruins plans to publish the draft bill online for a consultation in the first half of 2025. In this phase, anyone can then comment on the bill. After that, it will be submitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

Atomic bomb
The danger of foreign powers coming here to acquire militarily applicable knowledge is not imaginary. In the 1970s, a Pakistani nuclear scientist took Dutch knowledge back to his homeland, which eventually allowed Pakistan to develop nuclear weapons.

But the issue is no longer about nuclear weapons alone, which is why people are wondering what will soon be considered sensitive knowledge and technology. For instance, insights into aerodynamics can be used to build better rockets. Who will soon be allowed to work with a wind tunnel?

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), of which former minister Dijkgraaf was once the president, warned against extensively screening scientists. In its view, this would provide a false sense of security and inhibit international knowledge exchange.