The House of Representatives has approved the new Archives Act. Thanks to the law, information that must be preserved permanently will be transferred to a public archival institution after only 10 years. In addition, the law is more in line with today's digital society.
Government information that needs to be preserved will become public more quickly under the new law. The transfer period goes from 20 years to 10 years with the new law. As time passes, it becomes more difficult to organize and understand all this digital information. The law encourages government organizations to ensure proper archiving. And to destroy files in time when they no longer need to be preserved.
The previous Archives Act came from 1995. The new law responds better to the current era in which the majority of information is exchanged digitally. The VNG, IPO and the union of water boards jointly called for its adoption. The Archives Act will take effect in mid-2026.
