News item | 05-09-2025 | 15:00
The business climate in the Netherlands is under pressure. For example, due to unnecessary rules that undertake business rather than stimulate. Reducing it has been a favorite topic topic for years, but at the time it was never possible to actually reduce the regulatory pressure. On the proposal of Minister Karremans of Economic Affairs, the Council of Ministers agreed to a new, less non -binding approach, which should already ensure that the pressure of 500 rules are canceled before the summer of 2026.
Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time, money and energy on rules. Small entrepreneurs spend, for example, valuable hours keeping an overview of how they handle personal data for ordinary matters such as salary and customer administration (AVG). Small electrical appliances must also be inspected annually, making it cheaper for hairdressers, for example, to throw away a well -functioning hair dryer and buy a new one than to have an expensive check carried out. They prefer to spend this time on doing business, building beautiful companies in the Netherlands and earning money with which we can continue to pay our care, education and defense.
Minister Karremans: “The pace must and goes up. Entrepreneurs have been waiting for fewer rules for far too long, with far too little results. Because every hour and every euro that an entrepreneur spends on rules, there is one that they cannot put in their business. That must be different. That is why I have received the political commitment for the Heards of the Heard. Lowering regulatory pressure for entrepreneurs as quickly as possible.
Enterprise climate under pressure
The business climate in the Netherlands deteriorates every year, thanks in part to the increasing regulatory pressure. The costs for entrepreneurs to comply with rules have increased by 731 million euros in recent years. We are also no longer in the top 5 of the most competing countries in the world, but have fallen from fourth to tenth place. With the new approach to regulatory pressure, we will structurally improve the business climate in the Netherlands. The most important new measures are:
- Tackling 500 lines
The cabinet has decided to tackle 500 lines for the summer of 2026, by deleting them or reducing its regulatory pressure. With the aim ultimately 20% regulatory pressure costs reduction for the end of 2026 Examples of rules that are being addressed, the reporting obligation Work-related Personal Mobility (WPM), the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG), rules on the reintegration of sick employees, the questioning by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the additional obligation. - Taskforce regulatory pressure reduction
A new task force with entrepreneurs, representatives from the business community and policy makers will get started with scrapping and simplifying rules. They look for solutions for existing regulatory pressure problems. Think of the smart use of data, agreements with sectors, exceptions for SMEs, the High Trust principle, high penalty. The Task Force will also consider how the worries behind rules can be resolved in a different way. - Hackathon to reduce regulatory pressure
The next entrepreneurial stop will be aimed at regulatory pressure reduction. During a hackathon, entrepreneurs and government work together on concrete solutions to tackle regulatory pressure. - Tackling causes of regulatory pressure
The cabinet wants to intervene in the underlying dynamics that leads to regulatory pressure. Such as the assumption that new rules are always the best solution for problems, distrust towards entrepreneurs from the government, and the tendency to want to tackle any risk with rules.
Minister Karremans: “We have to get rid of the reflex that every problem needs a new rule. Behind each line is often a justified care, but we should not close that care with a forest of rules that are not always effective. We have to go much more to an approach based on trust in entrepreneurs, but at the same time we are needed for a strong Dutch underneath. the future. “
Independent advice investment climate and earning capacity
In addition to tackling regulatory pressure, the government also wants to strengthen the investment climate and future earning capacity of the Netherlands in other ways. That is why Peter Wennink was asked to prepare independent advice before the end of the year. In addition, he will translate the most important recommendations from the European Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness into the Dutch context.