Dutch justice committee proposes plenary debate on Postcode Loterij initiative

The Tweede Kamer's standing committee for Justice and Security has proposed that the citizen initiative 'Stop de Postcode Loterij' be scheduled for a plenary debate. The committee decided on 9 September to put the proposal to the House, according to a committee letter of 28 September to the Speaker of the Tweede Kamer. The initiative's proposer will be given the opportunity to explain the proposal at the start of the debate.

The initiative was submitted by YouTuber Rick 'Serpent' Broers and was taken into consideration by the Tweede Kamer in July. The committee for Petitions and Citizen Initiatives had earlier established that the initiative met the procedural and substantive requirements. A citizen initiative requires at least 40,000 valid signatures; 43,296 declarations of support were submitted in total, meeting the required number. The initiative was announced in March 2025 and officially presented to the Tweede Kamer on 12 May 2026.

The initiative concerns the way lotteries use forms of behavioural influence. Broers wants the Wet op de kansspelen to be amended with a ban on systems that allow non-participants to establish afterwards that they missed a prize. The initiative also asks for clear limits on communication that plays on the feeling of missing out, known as fear of missing out (FOMO). According to the proposer, the proposal is not aimed at ending the Postcode Loterij but at adjusting its current set-up and preventing comparable constructions at other lotteries.

After Broers explains the initiative, the Tweede Kamer can discuss the proposal and any motions can be tabled and subsequently voted on. The committee has also asked state secretary for Justice and Security Claudia van Bruggen to send a cabinet response to the Kamer before the plenary treatment, so that the cabinet responds to the initiative ahead of the debate.