Green Left MP Van der Lee is the chairman of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into gas extraction in Groningen. He was elected by the other members of the committee. The parliamentary inquiry was made by a motion from his hand, which was adopted by the House of Representatives in March 2019.
The commission was installed today. Vice President is a member of the Christian Parliament Van der Graaf. The committee also includes the MPs Van Aalst (PVV), De Groot (D66), Wiersma (VVD), Kuik (CDA), Van den Hul (PvdA), Kwint (SP) and the independent member Van Kooten-Aaren.
The parliamentary survey should provide an insight into the decision-making and balancing of interests of the past sixty years and in order to arrive at truth finding” on the extraction of natural gas in Groningen. It has, according to the President, become a headache file during that period of success. “The shadow sides, the earthquakes and the many victims now dominate the image.”
Public interrogations in 2022
The committee wants to find out how it has come to this and what lessons can be learned. She starts with requesting documents, file research and interviews with experts. The public hearings of witnesses under oath are expected to begin before the summer of 2022.
It was deliberately chosen to allow the committee to start before the elections in March, said President Van der Lee, although there is a chance that the members of the committee will not be elected to parliament again and will soon be replaced. “We dont want to wait another month and a half, because there is a lot of work to do.”