Professor of virology Marion Koopmans and former Minister for Medical Care Bruno Bruins are the first witnesses of the parliamentary Corona inquiry committee. The inquiry committee of MPs will question the two next Friday about the start of the pandemic.

A total of 51 interrogations are planned for which 47 people will be summoned. Some people are therefore heard twice, chairman Daan de Kort announced at a press conference.

The aim of the parliamentary inquiry is to investigate decision-making surrounding corona policy and measures. The House of Representatives wants to look at the role of the cabinet, parliament and other involved authorities, advisors and experts.

Tens of thousands of people died in the Netherlands during the corona crisis between 2020 and 2022. Millions of people became infected with the virus and measures affected everyone. “Corona has 18 million stories,” said chairman De Kort.

He emphasizes that the committee mainly wants to learn lessons. “The question is not if, but when another pandemic will occur,” says the MP. “Our goal is to be better prepared for the next pandemic.” He also hopes that there are lessons to be learned for other types of crises such as sabotage or a flood. “You don’t know what’s coming our way.”

The committee has not yet made public the entire list of witnesses, but has announced that at least then Prime Minister Mark Rutte and former ministers Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) and Ferd Grapperhaus (Justice) have been summoned. Mona Keijzer has also been asked. She was dismissed as State Secretary in 2021 because she criticized the corona ticket.

Furthermore, former director of the RIVM and chairman of the Outbreak Management Team, Jaap van Dissel, has received an invitation. In addition, former MPs Klaas Dijkhoff (VVD) and Fleur Agema (PVV) have been invited, as has critic of corona policy Maurice de Hond. The complete list of names will be announced weekly.

In November 2021, the House of Representatives decided to use this tough parliamentary measure to look at major decisions, such as the lockdowns, the closure of schools, the curfew, the mandatory face mask requirement and the corona admission ticket.

Corona support to companies, on which many billions of euros have been spent by the government, is therefore not part of the investigation. “You are limited in what you can research,” says De Kort. “You have to focus.”

The Dutch Safety Board previously drew firm conclusions about corona policy. For example, the council ruled that the cabinet was not prepared for a pandemic and that there was plenty of improvisation.

The committee, which has changed composition several times in recent years, consists of chairman De Kort (VVD), vice-chairman Songül Mutluer (GroenLinks-PvdA), Dion Huidekooper (D66), André Poortman (CDA) and Annelotte Lammers (Groep Markuszower).

The public hearings are the final part of the investigation phase. Committee members have already had dozens of private conversations with those involved, they have made working visits and, according to De Kort, studied “more than 1 million” documents.

The committee “had to fight for some documents”, De Kort said today. According to him, there was “a difference of opinion” with the cabinet about which pieces could be delivered “lacquered or not”. The Council of State had to intervene and found the committee “largely” in the right.

De Kort says he is satisfied with what the committee has received. But: “You never know what you don’t know.”

The committee expects the final report to be completed in early 2027.