NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Saint Maarten; and three special municipalities: Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba. The Kingdom is governed by the Kingdom Statutes; however, every country within the Kingdom is autonomous and has its own constitution (within the framework of the Kingdom Statutes).

The Netherlands is a decentralised unitary state with a three-tier system, which consists of local, provincial and national governments, without hierarchy between the three levels. The hierarchy only exists in the decision-making powers of the three levels of government. The country has a bicameral parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The 150 members of the House of Representatives are elected by direct popular vote on the basis of party-list proportional representation for four years. The 75 members of the Senate are elected by the members of the Provincial Councils and three Electoral Colleges from the Caribbean part of the Netherlands every four years, following the provincial council elections. Note that it does not formally represent local and provincial governments.

Decentralisation is enshrined in the 1848 Dutch Constitution, last revised in 2002. Chapter 7 of the Constitution (Art. 123 to 133) is dedicated to provinces, municipalities, water boards and other public bodies. Provinces and municipalities both have deliberative assemblies elected by direct universal suffrage for four-year terms. Councils elect members of their own executive councils, which are collegial boards, each headed by mayors (for municipalities) and King’s Commissioners (for provinces), appointed by royal decree based on the recommendations of local councils for a six-year mandate. In 2002 and 2003, the separation of powers between the deliberative assemblies and executive councils was set, which strengthened the subnational administration system.

The Provinces Act (1850) and the Municipalities Act (1851), revised several times, notably in 1992, provide a legal framework for vertical coordination between the three levels of governments. The General Administrative Law Act and the Decree on the Legal Status for Council and Committee Members also frame the subnational system. At the central level, the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations is in charge of decentralisation reforms, multi-level cooperation and support to the municipalities.

Reinforcing decentralisation has been a continuous trend for several years, based on the idea of better governance closer to citizens and that the allocation of tasks and functions to the right levels of government is crucial for the efficient use of resources and the creation of an environment conducive to social and economic development. Therefore, since the 1950s, government functions and services have been gradually decentralised in the Netherlands through the different Coalition Agreements. In 2015, the latest decentralisation process resulted in the transfer of large responsibilities to municipalities in the social sector (youth health, long-term care and employment support for young disabled people). The transfer of funds for the additional powers, notably for the social sphere, was considered as insufficient. The reform also aimed at revitalising and strengthening the role of the provinces with more powers in regional planning, economic development and coordination.The 2017-2021 Coalition agreement (“Confidence in the Future”) supported voluntary municipal mergers, and training of members of local and provincial councils in regard to their new tasks and digitalisation of public administration.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	PROVINCIAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2021)
352 municipalities (Gemeenten)		12 provinces (Provinces)
Average municipal size: 49 548 inhabitants
352		12	364

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The Netherland´s two-tiers of subnational governments comprise municipalities and provinces, including three overseas entities (Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba). The subnational government system also includes a functional layer at the regional level, comprising the Dutch water authorities (waterschappen).

PROVINCIAL LEVEL: Regional organisation has remained stable for many years although regional reform is regularly discussed. The consolidation of provinces into larger regions has been debated since the 1960s but never materialised due to the opposition of provinces. The last project of provincial consolidation was presented in 2012, with the aim to create five to seven large regions (Landsdelen) to replace the current 12 provinces. The first phase was planned to be the merger of the three provinces of Utrecht, Flevoland and Noord-Holland into the so-called “North Wing Province”. This proposal failed in 2014 due to a lack of majority in the parliament to support the law. The Dutch government is currently examining ways to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of local and provincial government representatives within regional-level governance, rather than establishing regions with elected self-government and autonomy. For instance, the position and role of the provinces may be strengthened in situations where regional-level governance corresponds to the geographic borders of the province.

The 22 water boards (waterschappen) are functional public entities at the regional level with a specific responsibility on water within their territory. They are responsible for natural water system management and the protection of residents from flooding. Water authorities are administered by an executive board, appointed by a directly elected general council, and are both chaired by an executive (dijkgraaf).

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: Municipalities are the basis of the Dutch decentralised unitary state. Over the years, a municipal merger process has led to a gradual but significant drop in the number of municipalities, from 913 in 1970 to 344 in 2022 (352 in 2021). A new “Policy Framework for Municipal Revision” was adopted in March 2019 to structure the process of municipal mergers. Today, the municipal average size is large, especially compared to the OECD or EU average (49 227 vs. 10 250 and 5 960 inhabitants respectively in 2020), as well as the median size (30 760 inhabitants). Only 1.4% of municipalities have less than 5 000 inhabitants (vs 41% on average in the OECD). The urban areas of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht form a metropolitan area referred to as “Randstad”.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: Around 1280 inter-municipal cooperation structures were created in the period from 2010 onwards under the Joint Regulations Act (WGR Act), such as joint bodies for levying taxes, or in the areas of public health, waste processing or even social services. Regional partnerships led to the creation of sub-regions with competences in specific sectors, such as youth-care regions and social-support regions. Eight city-regions were established by the central government in 1995 as inter-municipal cooperation entities, but they were abolished in January 2015. Subsequently, new metropolitan governance arrangements have emerged in the two large urban areas, of Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Region of Rotterdam-The Hague and the Brainport Eindhoven. These metropolitan governance arrangements are each different forms of inter-municipal cooperation, with different responsibilities and administrative powers. No specific mechanism for metropolitan governance have been created at the country level.

STATE TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION: The subnational level also comprises deconcentrated central government agencies, which are controlled and financed by central government units and have a local function (regional labour market offices, regional police services or regional healthcare services).

A characteristic of the Dutch system is that many areas of responsibility are shared between the central government and subnational governments. Municipalities and provincial bodies of government are autonomous entities operating under conditions determined by law.

The decentralisation process from 2007 has since transferred new responsibilities to the provinces and municipalities, along with important implementation and enforcement powers. Besides key responsibilities in spatial planning and urban development, provinces are in charge of administrative and financial supervision of municipalities and water boards, and play a key role in vertical coordination. Municipalities have a wide range of responsibilities, either entrusted by laws, or assigned by higher levels. In 2015, they were transferred new functions in social services (youth healthcare, long-term care and employment support for young disabled people). Discussions are currently ongoing on the role municipalities will have to play regarding energy shift policies and responsibilities in the years to come (a ban on the use of natural gas is planned for 2030), and other large transitions in the physical domain, such as housing, climate, nature (specifically nitrogen crisis) and the development of the rural area.

Finally, regional water authorities (waterschappen) are responsible for flood control, irrigation and drainage, (municipal) waste water purification and water quality.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Provincial level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Supervision of municipalities and regional water authorities	Municipal administration; Administrative duties (passports, identity documents and driving licences)
2. Public order and safety	Management of crisis and disruptions of public order and safety through “safety regions” (shared)	Public order in the municipality and relationships with police forces; Criminality prevention; Public safety; Disaster management (shared); Management of crisis and disruptions of public order and safety through “safety regions” (shared)
3. Economic affairs / transports	Provincial roads, cycle paths and bridges; Regional public transport (bus, regional trains); Inland water transport and infrastructure; Regional development agencies; Promotion of the region and coordination of touristic local policies	Municipal streets and roads; Traffic and parking regulations; Local tourism strategies and policies; Public transport and school buses (only the cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague)
4. Environment protection	Environmental protection plans and policies; Water (groundwater plans and regulation); Energy and climate; Renewable energy; Air quality; Soil protection and cleaning; Noise; Production and transport of hazardous; Supervision of municipal environmental policies; Nature areas; Environmental services (shared)	Parks & green areas; Waste management; Sewerage; Local environmental policy; Soil protection and cleaning; Environmental services (shared)
5. Housing and community amenities	Spatial planning	Land-use plans; Planning permission; Urban planning (shared); Civil engineering (shared); Street cleaning; Public lighting
6. Health		Municipal medical services (vaccination, prevention,hygiene); Youth health care; Elderly heath care; Long-term health care
7. Culture & Recreation	Environmental and recreational planning; Financial support of cultural activities; Protection of cultural heritage; Provincial museums	Financing of cultural activities; Cultural facilities and recreational areas; Local sport policies and subsidies
8. Education		Public primary and secondary education (school buildings only)
9. Social Welfare		Income support for less than fully disabled persons; mediation, training Assistance to the unemployed, people with disabilities and the elderly in their home environment Youth care services Social assistance and local employment schemes

Scope of fiscal data: provinces, public water boards, municipalities, communal arrangements at the municipal level (inter-municipal structures), special schools and private non-profit institutions with a local function.

SNA 2008

Availability of fiscal data: High

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: High

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The Provinces Act and Municipalities Act, which cover the organisation of the provinces and municipalities, determine the taxes that may be levied by each subnational goverment level. The 1997 Financial Relations Act regulates intergovernmental financial relations (Financiële Verhoudingswet). The Provinces Act and Municipalities Act include extensive provisions on municipal and provincial finances. A statutory instrument of the Financial Relations Act was amended in 2020 to modify the benefit system and the legal framework for the distribution of the general benefit in line with the new social competences of municipalities and provinces.

Subnational government expenditure by economic classification
	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total expenditure	8 305	14.0%	29.1%	100.0%
Inc. current expenditure	7 363	12.4%	28.0%	88.7%
Compensation of employees	3 127	5.3%	59.7%	37.7%
Intermediate consumption	2 201	3.7%	58.4%	26.5%
Social expenditure	1 496	2.5%	11.6%	18.0%
Subsidies and current transfers	475	0.8%	12.2%	5.7%
Financial charges	8	0.0%	1.9%	0.1%
Others	56	0.1%	67.7%	0.7%
Incl. capital expenditure	943	1.6%	42.3%	11.4%
Capital transfers	64	0.1%	26.3%	0.8%
Direct investment (or GFCF)	879	1.5%	44.2%	10.6%

EXPENDITURE: The share of SNGs in public expenditure in the Netherlands is below the OECD average (17.1% of GDP and 36.6% of public spending in 2020). However, the share of Dutch SNGs in public staff spending is significant (59.7%), close to the OECD average (61.2%) and above the OECD average for unitary countries (41.4%), reflecting important public administration, especially at the municipal level (there are around 185 000 civil servants working in municipal governments compared to 13 000 officials working in provincial government). Within SNG expenditure, provinces accounted for 5.7% of SNG expenditure in 2020, municipalities and inter-municipal bodies for 69.0%, the remaining part being composed of public water boards and other local government bodies.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: In 2020, 44.2% of total public investment was carried out by SNGs in the Netherlands compared to the OECD average of 54.6% and to the EU27 average of 54.4%. Despite sharp decline over the decade due to budget cuts at regional and local levels, direct investment remains a key function of Dutch provinces and municipalities. It represented 10.6% of their total spending in 2020, in line with the OECD average (11.3%). 55% of SNG investment was carried out by municipalities and inter-municipal cooperative bodies in 2020. The share of the provinces is lower (15%). Other SNG investors are public water boards and other local government bodies (31%).

Most SNG investments are dedicated to education (31.3%) and economic affairs, local transport and infrastructure (28.2%), followed by environment protection (19.8%) and recreation, culture and religion (11.1%). At the regional level, high levels of investment in research and development aim at strengthening regional competitiveness. Investment projects to be co-funded by the central government are subject to review by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment according to several criteria.

Subnational governments have been increasingly contracting public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure investments in the Netherlands, although they still represent a limited number. A PPP support unit (Publiek-Private Samenwerking, PPS) was created in 2012 by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environement, in order to make the central govenrment’s knowledge and experience of PPPs available to SNGs and semi-public institutions. The PPS unit assists projects from the exploratory stage and tenders to the completion in various local and regional sectors.

Subnational government expenditure by functional classification
	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total expenditure by economic function	7 666	12.9%	-	100.0%
1. General public services	551	0.9%	10.8%	7.2%
2. Defence	0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
3. Security and public order	187	0.3%	16.6%	2.4%
4. Economic affairs/transports	983	1.7%	40.8%	12.8%
5. Environmental protection	761	1.3%	90.2%	9.9%
6. Housing and community amenities	175	0.3%	79.1%	2.3%
7. Health	299	0.5%	5.9%	3.9%
8. Recreation, culture and religion	502	0.8%	68.3%	6.6%
9. Education	2 356	4.0%	46.9%	30.7%
10. Social protection	1 851	3.1%	16.5%	24.2%

Education and social protection were the two largest spending items for SNGs in the Netherlands in 2019. Together they represent 54.9% of subnational expenditure compared to 38.4% in the OECD area. Education is the main spending sector for SNGs, given that they are in charge of providing primary and secondary education, but also of the management of buildings and related facilities.The share of social protection has increased significantly in recent years, notably since the 2015 decentralisation reform (from 13% in 2008 to 24.2% in 2019). Besides, SNGs are responsible for the vast majority of total public spending in the areas of environmental protection (90.2% of public expenditure for the same category), housing and community amenities (water distribution, street lighting, etc.) (79.1%) and recreation and culture (68.3%), especially since they include infrastructure projects.

Subnational government revenue by category
	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	8 135	13.7%	31.3%	100.0%
Tax revenue	809	1.4%	5.3%	9.9%
Grants and subsidies	6 091	10.3%	-	74.9%
Tariffs and fees	966	1.6%	-	11.9%
Income from assets	143	0.2%	-	1.8%
Other revenues	127	0.2%	-	1.6%

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Dutch provinces and municipalities are funded mostly by grants from the central government. Almost 75% of Dutch SNG revenue came from transfers, while SNG tax revenue represented only 9.9% of SNG revenue in 2020. The share of grants in SNG revenue is one of the highest in the OECD, where it amounted to 37.2% on average. By contrast, SNG tax ratios are some of the lowest in the OECD (9.9%), well below the average (42.4% of subnational revenue in 2020), reflecting strong fiscal imbalances. Municipalities represent the greater share of SNG revenue (62% in 2020). Provinces accounted for only 5% of SNG revenue in 2020, and public water boards and other local government bodies accounted for the remaining (34%)

TAX REVENUE: SNG tax revenue accounted for only 1.4% of GDP and 5.3% of public tax revenue in 2020, two ratios that are below the OECD average (7.2% of GDP and 32.3% of public tax revenue). In 2020, municipalities accounted for 57.6% of SNG tax revenue and the provinces for 15.4%. The remaining 27.0% is the share of public water boards as they collect their own taxes and levies (waste water treatment levy, water systems levy and a pollution levy).

The taxes that may be levied by SNGs are listed in the respective Province and the Municipality Acts. A large part of municipal tax revenue comes from the property tax (OZB), based on property value, and paid by owners and users on residential and non-residential properties (since 2006, owners of residential properties only have to pay the owner tax). Municipalities have the power to set tax rates, but only within limits established by the central government. The property tax accounted for 48.6% of SNG tax revenue and 4.8% of total SNG revenue. It amounted to 0.7% of GDP in 2020, a level which is below the OECD average of 1.0% of GDP. Other local taxes include the parking tax, the tourist tax, dog tax, sewerage charges, levies on water pollution, a tax paid for the use of municipal land, etc. Taxes on waste collection and sewerage charges accounted for 33.9% of SNG tax revenue in 2020. There is no tax sharing system. An official report from the Ministry of Interior, Finance and the VNG was published in 2020 to present policy options to reform the municipal tax area, notably expanding their taxing capacity while reducing the Municipalities Fund to increase their autonomy and capacity to deal with additional social competences.

Provincial taxes come almost entirely from the surtax on the motor vehicle tax, the rate of which is capped by the central government. According to the national statistical institute CBS, the surtax rate varied from 67.9% in Noord-Holland to 92.0% in Drenthe in 2020. Public water boards can collect their own taxes and levies (waste water treatment levy, water systems levy and a pollution levy) within their individual territory.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: Transfers to municipalities comprise the general grant (Municipal Fund or Gemeentefonds), integration grants, decentralisation grants and specific grants to cover the expenses of obligatory delegated tasks. The Municipal Fund has a strong equalising function, and the formula takes into account spending needs and tax capacity of municipalities, with the aim to enable all municipalities to finance equivalent service levels at equivalent tax rates (50 different criteria are used to define its allocation per 2023). Between 2017 and 2020, two municipalities (Vlissingen and Lelystad) have received additional grants (between an estimated EUR 22 million and EUR 29 million). A proposal for a new distribution of the Municipal Fund has been presented by the Minister of the Interior in February 2021 and is planned to be introduced in 2023. The new distribution has been determined in accordance with the increasing tasks performed by the municipalities in the social sphere and demographic changes (e.g. pressure on housing market in growing regions). Municipalities also receive transfers from provinces (e.g. investment grants for roads and public transport).

Transfers to provinces include a general grant (Provinces Fund or Provinciefonds, also redistributed on the basis of an equalisation system), allocated payments from the government funds (integration and decentralisation grants) as well as specific grants for delegated tasks. The Municipal Fund and Provinces Funds have become the main source of revenue for municipalities and provinces. On the other hand, earmarked funds (integration and decentralisation grants) are meant to cover the expenses of obligatory delegated tasks in areas such as primary education and social services.

OTHER REVENUE: Other major sources of revenue for SNGs are user charges and fees (11.9% of SNG revenue in 2020) and income from property and land leases (1.8%). Provinces receive significant revenues from dividends from utility companies, in particular energy companies, and from the privatisation of public utilities in the energy sector.

Subnational government fiscal rules and debt
	Dollars PPP / inh.	% GDP	% general government debt	% SNG debt	% SNG financial debt
Total outstanding debt	6 029	10.2%	14.6%	100.0%	-
Financial debt	4 227	7.1%	11.3%	70.1%	100.0%
Currency and deposits	0	-	-	0.0%	0.0%
Bonds / debt securities	364	-	-	6.0%	8.6%
Loans	3 862	-	-	64.1%	91.4%
Insurance pensions	0	-	-	0.0%	-
Other accounts payable	1 802	-	-	29.9%	-

FISCAL RULES: New budgetary rules, agreed in the Coalition Agreement and the 2013 Sustainable Public Finances Bill, stipulate that SNGs must make similar efforts to those of the central government to comply with public finance targets, including a multi-annual budget balance requirement. A deficit limit of 0.5% of GDP also apply to local authorities: 0.38% for municipalities, 0.07% for provinces and 0.05% for the water boards. This is enhanced by vertical financial supervision of municipal finances by provinces, and the legal obligation of SNGs to balance their budget.

DEBT: SNGs may borrow freely, including through bonds, but only to finance capital expenditure (“Golden Rule”). The level of SNG debt is below the OECD average (27.9% of GDP and 20.2% of public debt in 2020). Loans make up the bulk of the financial debt stock (91.4%). Bonds as a percentage of total financial debt remain very limited, although their share has increased over the recent years (8.6% in 2020 vs. 2.8% in 2016). The Municipal Bank of the Netherlands (BNG) is a funding agency established by the Dutch Association of Municipalities in 1914 in order to help municipalities’ access credit markets. Around 90% of its assets are loans to municipalities and other public bodies. Half of the bank's share capital is held by the state of the Netherlands and the other half by municipal authorities, provincial authorities and water boards. The Waterschapsbank is another Dutch bank specialised in loans to local governments.

The Nederlandse Waterchapsbank (NWB) has issued three green bonds since 2014 in order to finance climate change transition projects (especially flood prevention) undertaken by the regional water authorities, working in cooperation with the municipalities. More recently, it also issued a social bond for the city of Rotterdam.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: The prevention and control of infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is regulated by the Public Health Act (Wpg) and the Safety Regions Act (Wvr) in the Netherlands. They established „safety regions“, which are public bodies whose task is to promote regional co-operation in dealing with disaster and pandemic. The Public Health Act provides various powers to the chariman of safety regions, who is appointed by royal decree, and excludes the competences of administrative territories, for instance, to close facilities in the event of an infectious disease. Additionally, the chairman can exclusively apply the emergency competences of mayors to maintain public order in case of crisis with significance broader than municipal, which are specified under the Municipalities Act. As a result, powers of mayors are limited to manage the pandemic. They still have the capacity to implement additional measures as long as the matters are only locally significant and fall outside the competences of the chairman.

Nevertheless, regional and local governments remain consulted in regard to decision-making for the pandemic. SNGs, especially mayors, are involved in the preparation and implementation of COVID-19 regulations. The „Temporary Act measures Covid-19“, established in December 2020 and ended per 20 May 2022, maintains the existing links between the central government and SNGs. Accordingly, measures can be adapted at the regional or local level. However, the pandemic has modified the relationships between local bodies, with the municipal council exercising a supervising role (after the implementation of policies) rather than a decision-making role. Overall, the pandemic has recentralised decision-making with powers transferred from municipalities to safety regions. The central government established a national plan in response to the pandemic to provide the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) emergency powers. In addition, several crisis committees have been established at the national level, such as the Ministerial Crisis Management Committee (MCCb), as well as a think tank to coordinate the policy measures between national and local levels, including social partners.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: Subnational emergency measures were limited during the pandemic. However, municipalities supported vulnerable households and provided health services and vaccines due to their new social policy competences (e.g. youth care).

The central government took several actions to support SNGs’ financial position during the pandemic and to compensate their higher expenditure linked to COVID-19, notably for youth care, waste collection, etc. The central government provided a compensation package of EUR 700 million to municipalities in 2020. The support comprises a compensation for the loss of local tax revenue (e.g. parking and tourist tax), additional costs related to social spending, youth care, public transport and cultural facilities. A supplementary package of EUR 365 million was granted in summer 2020 for Municipal Health services and safety regions, followed by an additional tranche of EUR 330 million. The modification of the distribution rules for the Municipal Fund will aim to alleviate SNGs’ finances in response to the pandemic.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The crisis strongly affected local economy in 2020 with disparities among the provinces. Northern and South-Eastern provinces were the most affected due to their less advanced and less innovative economies. By contrast, urban areas, such as Utrecht and The Hague, were less hit than the national average, compared to Amsterdam, which relies heavily on commercial services.

Regarding subnational finances, revenue increased by 3.8% between 2019 and 2020. This reflects a drop in tax revenue (-1.8%), mainly driven by tax deferrals and a fall in the tourist tax, that was more than compensated by an increase in grants and subsidies from the central government over the period (7.2%). The main impact of the crisis at the municipal level was the reduction in tariffs and fees (-7.0%), notably from the parking fees. On the expenditure side, subnational spending grew by 3.8% in 2020 compared to 2019. This resulted from a sharp increase in susbidies and transfers paid by municipalities (+62.4%), mostly for social assistance benefits.

SNG debt decreased by 2.3% between 2019 and 2020 due to sound prior financial positioning and reserves. Nevertheless, around one third of municipalities recorded a negative budget balance in 2021 according to the association IPO.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: As the level of government at the frontline to support most affected sectors (e.g. culture, public transportation, regional economic development), the 12 provinces established a common Regional Economic Recovery Plan, with the aim to provide financial support to sectors hit by Covid-19 restrictions.

The EU has also implemented the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), as part of its NextGeneration EU, to provide financial assistance to European countries and to promote their recovery path. The plan focuses on investment and structural reforms in the fields of climate transition and digital transformation and include all levels of governance. It is distributed in the form of loans and grants. The Netherlands is preparing its national recovery and resilience plans in line with the RRF. The plan has not been submitted yet. The central government has notably committed to strictly meet its 2030 and 2050 mitigation goals to ensure a sustainable recovery after the pandemic. Under the Climate Act, the Netherlands shall reduce domestic GHG emissions by 95% by 2050.