The opening article introduces the topic of this special issue: civil servants. Changes in the context, role and legal status of civil servants in the Netherlands fuel the debate on the civil servant as a professional in academic and policy circles. This special issue reports on this debate, with contributions from legal, sociological, public administration and more applied perspectives.

After years of debate, the discussion concerning the legal status of civil servants has reached its climax. The abolition of special civil servant status has never been closer. In February 2014 the Dutch Parliament approved a proposal that is based on the view that the particular legal status of civil servants has to be ‘normalized’, and that the terms and conditions of employment in the public sector could be regulated in line with market sector standards. In this article, both the discussion and the proposal are considered. In addition, we reflect on the extent to which and the way in which the proposal could have a positive impact on the development of the professional competence of civil servants.

The article aims to compare the current legal status of codes of conduct (if any) in five different EU-countries. Its starting point is the recent legal initiative in the Netherlands to abolish the existing status for officials and to replace it with contracts of employment. The parliamentary initiators indicate ethical elements as crucial for the employment relation in the public sector. Does this imply that a code of conduct has to be established?
The article first focuses on the historical evolution of codes of conduct in different EU-Member States. Within the UK, integrity has always been considered a key stone of the civil service. However, it took until the nineties until a code of conduct was set out. The spread out of the importance of integrity for civil servants has spread out later in continental Europe. The impact of the theory of New Public Management, through the OECD, was therefore crucial. Consequently, Belgium and Germany developed codes of conduct while France and the Netherlands paid more attention to weight of ethical behavior in the public sector.
Currently, it stays beyond any doubt that the codes of conduct in the UK have got a binding legal value. This value has not yet been achieved by the Belgian and the German codes. The article defends the point of view that a binding code in the Netherlands can be a useful tool.

The changes in the role of government raise questions about the training and socialization of Dutch public servants. How can civil servants and their organizations prepare for what it means to be a civil servant in the 21st century? In this article, the authors give an overview of training and other means of socialization for public servants. They conclude that there is hardly any evidence of universal and coherent means to shape the collective identity of civil servants, and suggest ways to improve this.

A profession can be defined as a group of workers with shared knowledge, skills and quality standards. To maintain its professional status, the professional community needs to be relatively autonomous. However, while performing their tasks, many pressures jeopardize the professional worker’s autonomous position. Here, the professional community can make a difference.
Subordination to the political principal characterizes the position of the civil servant. What margin of professional independence do political leaders allow their civil servants? Recent academic empirical reports in the Netherlands show conflicting outcomes.
This essay describes how civil servants from a Dutch ministry deal with their professional standards and argues that, in the process of professionalization, more clarity is required with regard to how autonomy and independence for civil servants are safeguarded. This is especially relevant in a contemporary context where new ways to account for the professional behavior of civil servants need to be sought.

This is an interview with professor of public administration Paul ’t Hart, following the success of his Dutch essay ‘Civil Servant 3.0’. In the interview, ’t Hart addresses new demands on civil servants, challenges for leadership and the need to learn from international best practices in public sector reform.

The first report (2013) by the Association of Netherlands Municipalities think tank deals with the question of how local governments can improve their own performance regarding the current trend of social initiatives in which citizens organize themselves to tackle problems in their neighborhoods. Kleistra and Walraven discuss the method, content and findings of the report. They question the widely used citizen perspective that is adopted by the think tank as a starting point for further research on the topic; its uncritical stance with regard to the highly debated issue of citizen participation; the limited research effort that underpins its overall findings and conclusions; and in particular its unequivocal call for large scale municipal experimenting and improvising without further elaborating on the key question of ‘how to proceed’ for the benefit of municipal policymakers. This brings them to the conclusion that the report itself generates highly relevant questions, but that these questions should be addressed more effectively than has so far been the case, by connecting in-depth empirical research on municipal performance with regard to citizens initiatives to the large body of scientific knowledge on citizen participation.

The Netherlands enjoys a long-standing reputation in the field of road safety. Following the ‘Sustainable Road Safety’ program of the 1990s, the infrastructural layout considerably reduces the risk of accidents while at the same time many measures are in place to improve road user behavior. In recent years, however, there have been several developments that may affect the success of the approach. In addition to an ageing population, urbanization, and the rise of new technologies, there is a combination of decentralization, policy integration, and budgetary restraints.
This contribution presents the philosophy behind the sustainable road safety program and describes its key elements. It discusses policy and societal developments, and the continuing need to improve road safety, especially at a decentralized level. The article argues in favor of a continued systematic approach towards safer road traffic, also in periods of decentralization and limited budgets. It presents a concrete perspective of the role of policy analysis and policy evaluation to develop a proactive approach to road safety under the new conditions. In this, evidence-based interventions, an active use of safety performance indicators, and a focus on success are key elements.

This contribution presents a review of four publications, selected as building blocks for designing a policy for competent governance of Dutch housing associations. These publications are about:

• hybrid organisations: Verhoef & Simon (2001);

• securing public interests: WRR (2000);

• problems around core tasks, side activities and achievements of housing associations: ARK (2014);

• the complex separation of social and commercial activities: CFV (2014).