2019 SBA Fact Sheet

NETHERLANDS

Key points

Past & future SME performance1:

In the Netherlands’ ‘non-financial business economy’, SMEs account for 62.3% of value added, above the EU
average of 56.4%. Between 2014 and 2018, the value added of Dutch SMEs rose by 23.6%, slightly above
the 20.7% growth of large firms. Between 2018 and 2020, SME value added is expected to rise by an
average 3% and SME employment is expected to rise by 0.9%.
Implementing the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA):
The Netherlands continues to be a strong performer in terms of the SBA principles. It scores the highest out
of all Member States on entrepreneurship, the second highest on ‘second chance’, and the third highest on
‘responsive administration’. All the SBA principles for the Netherlands rank above average, with the exception
of State aid & procurement. Access to finance has improved since the previous year, now above average too.

SME policy priorities:

Innovation and digitisation are important features of the Dutch SME policymaking environment, along with
human capital development and access to finance. In addition to providing substantial support for
technology-related sectors, other SME sectors merit policy action. The Netherlands has taken steps to bring
innovative practices into its public tendering procedures but larger-scale initiatives may be needed to foster a
higher share of SME participation.

About the SBA fact sheets

The Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) is the EU’s flagship policy initiative to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It
comprises a set of policy measures organised around 10 principles ranging from entrepreneurship and ‘responsive administration’ to
internationalisation. To improve the governance of the SBA, the 2011 review of it called for better monitoring. The SBA fact sheets,
published annually, aim to improve understanding of recent trends and national policies affecting SMEs. Since 2011, each EU Member
State has appointed a high-ranking government official as its national SME envoy. SME envoys spearhead the implementation of the
SBA agenda in their countries.

Internal market,
industry,
entrepreneurship
and SMEs
Table of Contents
Key points ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1. SMEs — basic figures....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. SBA profile ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
3. SBA principles ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.0 ‘Think Small First’ ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 Entrepreneurship............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 ‘Second chance’ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
3.3 ‘Responsive administration’ ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
3.4 State aid & public procurement ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.5 Access to finance........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.6 Single market .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
3.7 Skills & innovation ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 12
3.8 Environment ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.9 Internationalisation ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
4. Interesting initiative ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

1. SMEs — basic figures

Class
Number of enterprises Number of persons employed Value added
size

Netherlands EU-28 Netherlands EU-28 Netherlands EU-28

Number Share Share Number Share Share Billion € Share Share
Micro 1,137,686 95.6% 93.0% 1,660,985 28.0% 29.7% 78.0 20.2% 20.8%
Small 41,997 3.5% 5.9% 1,061,186 17.9% 20.1% 67.9 17.6% 17.6%
Medium-
9,103 0.8% 0.9% 1,070,443 18.0% 16.8% 94.2 24.4% 18.0%
sized
SMEs 1,188,786 99.8% 99.8% 3,792,614 63.8% 66.6% 240.1 62.3% 56.4%
Large 1,824 0.2% 0.2% 2,148,445 36.2% 33.4% 145.3 37.7% 43.6%
Total 1,190,610 100% 100% 5,941,059 100% 100% 385.4 100% 100%
These are estimates for 2018 produced by DIW Econ, based on 2008-2016 figures from the Structural Business Statistics Database
(Eurostat). The data cover the ‘non-financial business economy’, which includes industry, construction, trade, and services (NACE Rev. 2
sections B to J, L, M and N), but not enterprises in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the largely non-market service sectors such as
education and health. The following size-class definitions are applied: micro firms (0-9 persons employed), small firms (10-49 persons
employed), medium-sized firms (50-249 persons employed), and large firms (250+ persons employed). The advantage of using Eurostat
data is that the statistics are harmonised and comparable across countries. The disadvantage is that for some countries the data may be
different from those published by national authorities.

In the Netherlands’ ‘non-financial business economy’, SMEs employment increased by 8.4% between 2014 and 2018,
account for 62.3% of value added, above the EU average of lagging significantly behind that of large firms, which generated
56.4%. SMEs provide 63.8% of all employment in the ‘non- 18.3% employment growth over the same period. Most recently,
financial business economy’, below the EU average of 66.6%. As from 2017 to 2018, SME value added increased by 5.6% and
a result, the annual productivity of Dutch SMEs is €63,300 per employment rose by 1.9%.
person, which is 42% higher than the EU average of €44,600.
The average number of SME employees is 3.2, slightly fewer Between 2014 and 2018, SMEs in the professional activities
than the EU average of 3.9. sector generated a 26.3% increase in value added and 10% in
employment. This was roughly in line with the increase
Between 2014 and 2018, the value added of Dutch SMEs rose generated by large companies, i.e. up 28.6% in value added and
by 23.6%, slightly above the 20.7% growth of large firms. SME 11.9% in employment over that period. The sector started

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 2

growing again in 2014 after a period of stagnation following the all-female team of founders. The remaining 24% were set up by
2008 economic crisis, and growth has accelerated in recent at least one man and one woman. In terms of their stage of
years. In 2017-2018, SME value added rose by 7%, up from an development, 17% are in the pre-seed or seed stage, 38% in the
average annual growth of 5.1% in 2013-2017 and the start-up stage and 45% in the growth stage. Regarding financial
contraction fall of 0.9% between 2008 and 2013. To a large aspects, 64% are operating at a loss, 14% currently break-even
extent, the recent growth of the sector is the result of major and 22% are profitable. Of those start-ups that are operating at
government support for innovation in the nine most innovative a loss, 85% expect to break-even in less than 2 years, while
sectors in the Netherlands2. The support includes subsidies, 15% expect that it will take them over 2 years to break-even.
public-private partnerships, and tax incentives. A variety of 50% have a turnover between €1 and €500,000, 24% report
special programmes are also available to these top nine sectors, having no turnover yet and the remaining 26% have a turnover
to help foster alliances between businesses and research and of over €500,000. They have 10 employees on average, of
knowledge institutions, and assistance with developing networks which around 32% work on a part-time basis. On average they
and funding R&D activities3. plan to hire 7.5 people within a year.

Between 2014 and 2018, SMEs in the wholesale and retail trade In 2016, 7,401 companies (12.3% of all companies in the
sector generated strong overall growth of 22.7% in value added ‘business economy’9 with at least 10 employees), were high-
and 5.5% in employment. Medium-size businesses created the growth companies10. This is higher than the EU average of
highest increase in value added, at 33.1%, whereas micro and 10.7%. High-growth companies are particularly prevalent in the
small businesses achieved a 16.7% increase. Sector growth administrative and support services sector, with a share of
reflects the consistent rise of GDP and household consumption 20.3% (the second highest in the EU after Ireland) and in the
since the economic recovery from the 2008 crisis began in information and communication sector, at 19.7% (the third
20144. Much of the positive sectoral dynamics can be attributed highest EU share after Ireland and Latvia). In 2018, Dutch SMEs
to the impact of digitalisation and the development of e- in the specialised knowledge-intensive services and high-tech
commerce, such as web stores and other online portals manufacturing sectors, both of which are usually R&D-intensive,
facilitating trade. Another driver of this growth has been the accounted for 34% of SME value added and 34.4% of SME
entry of foreign-owned companies into the sector. employment, above the respective EU average of 33% and 26%.

In 2018, the number of registered firms rose by 82,785 to reach SME growth in the Dutch ‘non-financial business economy’ is
1,901,397 as at 1 January 2019, up 5% since the previous forecast to slow down in the coming years. From 2018 to 2020,
year5. A total of 211,056 new firms were registered in 2018, up SME value added is forecast to grow by an average 3% a year
12% since 2017. No fewer than 94% of these new firms were and 0.9% for SME employment. This is less than the rise of 5.4%
one-person businesses6. A total of 128,178 companies were rise in average annual value added from 2014 to 2018, and the
liquidated in 2018, 10% more than the previous year. average annual increase of 2% in employment over the same
Nonetheless, the net increase in the number of registered period. Consequently, aggregate growth from 2018 to 2020 for
companies in 2018 was the highest since 20077. SME value added is estimated to reach 6.1% and 1.7% for SME
employment. This corresponds to a creation of 66,200 new SME
As per the data collected by the European Startup Monitor 2019 jobs by 2020, accounting for more than a third of all new jobs
project8, 74% of the Dutch startups that responded to the online that are projected to be created in the Dutch ‘non-financial
questionnaire were set up by one male founder or an all-male business economy’ between 2018 and 2020.
team of founders. 2% were set up by one female founder or an

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 3

2. SBA profile11
Over the current reference period, the Netherlands started
implementing a number of these measures, in particular on
access to finance and skills & innovation, supporting new
technologies, top economic sectors, and digitalisation.

Innovation & skills development are long-standing government

priorities, reflected in the SME action plan that emphasises
human capital and digitisation. The Dutch government launched
several initiatives, connecting knowledge institutions with the
private sector in an effort to create synergies and boost their
capacity to innovate. It specifically targets strategic sectors, for
instance construction with the Construction Innovation Centre
(Bouw en Techniek Innovatiecentrum BTIC) and the photon
industry with Photon Delta.

The Netherlands has also made progress on other SBA principles.

The Netherlands continues to rank very highly in all SBA It has adopted several new measures on the environment and
principles. Overall, the country has above-average scores on internationalisation front. The past year saw a particular focus
eight of the principles. It ranks the highest among all Member on the creation of networks and public-private partnerships with
States on entrepreneurship. On ‘second chance’ and ‘responsive the establishment of the International Strategic Board and
administration’, the Netherlands ranks second and third highest. ‘Trade & Innovate NL’. The government facilitated the
It remains above the average on single market, skills & internationalisation of Dutch businesses by launching start-up
innovation, environment and internationalisation. A marked liaison support for strategic foreign markets at Dutch embassies.
improvement on access to finance resulted in bringing its score New requirements on energy savings entered into force for SMEs
on this front above the EU average too, though on State aid & and other organisations. In parallel, the Netherlands runs product
public procurement, the Netherlands is still well below average. idea competitions, such as the Circular Innovation Challenge
(Circulaire Innovatie Challenge) by the Dutch Water Authorities
After the long period needed to form a government in 2017, (Unie van Waterschappen) to promote innovative and
which had put on hold new policy implementation, the environmentally-conscious businesses.
Netherlands stepped up the pace again in 2018 and the first
quarter of 2019 (the reference period for this year’s fact sheet). Overall, the Netherlands’ SBA profile for 2018-2019 is broadly
It published the previously announced SME action plan for 2018- similar to the previous year’s results, maintaining its lead in
2021. This sets out seven main areas for the development of some areas and improving in others. In particular, it continues to
Dutch SMEs: human capital, access to finance, digitisation, focus action on innovation, digitalisation and the development of
innovation, internationalisation, regulatory environment and technology-driven sectors.
taxes. The government has allocated an additional €200 million
to cover a wide range of measures across all these areas,
including the support of regional cooperation.

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 4

SBA performance of the Netherlands: state of play and development from 2008 to
201912

Low Performance,
Deterioration

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 5

3. SBA principles13

3.0 ‘Think Small First’

The ‘think small first’ principle is meant to be a guiding principle administrative burden on SMEs and reducing errors in electronic
for all policy- and law-making activities. It requires policymakers deposits.
to take SMEs’ interests into account at the early stages of the
policy-making process. The principle also calls for newly Over the reference period, the draft ‘Labour Market in Balance
designed legislation, administrative rules and procedures to be Act’ (Wet Arbeidsmarkt in balans) was tabled for consultation
made simple and easy to apply. (April 2018). The Act contains significant amendments designed
to reduce the gap between employees with permanent contracts
The Netherlands has made significant progress in this area since and those with flexible ones. The numerous changes include a
2008. The Ministry of Economic Affairs launched the proposal on termination of contracts on the basis of a
‘Administrative burden programme 2011-2015’, containing combination of grounds, making it easier for employers to lay
provisions on wages, taxes, licensing and start-ups. Its objective off personnel. The intention of the amendment is to reduce the
was to reduce administrative costs for SMEs by up to 10% over risk for employers in hiring permanent staff, and thereby
the programme period. In addition, in 2017 it adopted the improve the chances for jobseekers to find permanent jobs.
‘Electronic Invoicing programme’ with the aim of reducing the

3.1 Entrepreneurship

Continuing the trend from the previous year, the Netherlands developing an entrepreneurial attitude in both primary and
remains the top performer in the EU on entrepreneurship, secondary education. In 2018, the number of minors registering
significantly outperforming the average. The Netherlands has a company increased by 30% in comparison with 201714. This is
made strong progress since 2008. It scores highest on line with the Netherlands’ ranking as the second highest

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 6

performer in the EU on entrepreneurship as a desirable career Over the reference period, the government and stakeholders
choice. The government’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship have put an even greater focus on including entrepreneurship in
through education are also reflected in the improvement of education. Examples are collaborations between business and
indicators such as the established business ownership rate (up educational institutions to create a practically oriented
from 8.6% in 2017 to 12% in 2018). Although the indicator of curriculum for students and to deliver the skills in demand on
entrepreneurial intentions is below the EU average, it has the labour market. Stakeholders, representing the private sector,
improved since the previous year (up from 8.1% in 2017 to have also highlighted the importance of regular dialogue
10.9% in 2018). between educational institutions and businesses. In 2018, an
‘Entrepreneurship Education’ feasibility study was formally
Since 2008, the Netherlands’ indicators on the SBA principle announced in the SME action plan, and is expected to be
entrepreneurship have mainly generated positive results. launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Traditionally, Dutch entrepreneurship policy has focused on fiscal
measures and on including entrepreneurship in education.

3.2 ‘Second chance’

‘Second chance’ refers to ensuring that honest entrepreneurs government has worked on bankruptcy and fraud legislation.
who have gone bankrupt get a second chance quickly. The Between 2013 and 2015, it amended several laws on fraud,
Netherlands has managed to maintain its above-EU-average modernising procedures and the reorganisation of companies.
performance in this area. As it did the previous year, it ranked The Chamber of Commerce also launched a ‘comeback line’ (KVK
second highest, with Finland topping the ranking. Despite being comeback-lijn) to provide honest entrepreneurs with a second
among the leaders in the ‘second chance’ principle, the indicator chance. The initiative creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs to
on the fear of failure worsened considerably (rising to 34.8% in discuss their specific circumstances with an expert.
2018 from 29.7% in 2017). Nevertheless, it remains the lowest
score in the EU in 2018. The Netherlands also has the lowest The Netherlands did not launch any further measures on this
cost to businesses for resolving insolvency. front over the current reference period.

The Netherlands has made substantial progress on ‘second

chance’, mainly by making legislative changes. Since 2008, the

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 7

3.3 ‘Responsive administration’

‘Responsive administration’ refers to the public administration Since 2008, the Netherlands has adopted significant measures
being responsive to the needs of SMEs. The Netherlands on ‘responsive administration’ and has made substantial overall
continues to rank substantially above the EU average, with the progress. For instance, the Dutch authorities have taken steps to
third highest score among the Member States. The country reduce the cost of starting a business and the number of annual
requires no paid-in minimum capital and a company can be set tax payments. In recent years, the spotlight fell on self-
up in 1 day with four procedures (second and third highest score employed entrepreneurs and SMEs, with measures launched to
in the EU respectively). At €300, the cost involved to start a provide social protection (collective insurance measures), and to
business is rather high, unchanged since 2017. Similarly, the facilitate access to banking finance. The Ministry of Economic
cost to enforce contracts still amounts to 23.9% of the claim. In Affairs published a draft on self-regulation for the franchise
terms of the time it takes to register property, the Netherlands is sector.
preceded only by Portugal. It ranks third in terms of lowest
burden of government regulation, well above the EU average. The Netherlands did not launch any further measures over the
reference period.

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 8

3.4 State aid & public procurement

Important methodological changes have been introduced for this of government tenders. Recently, the focus has been on
principle in this year’s fact sheet. Three new indicators from the improving the quality of public procurement with the programme
Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) database have been added and Better Procurement (‘Beter Aanbesteden’). It consists of practical
refer to procurement above EU thresholds:
measures to facilitate dialogue between businesses and
• percentage of awards for which the winner was an SME; contracting authorities.
• proportion of bids by SMEs;
Over the reference period, the Netherlands focused action on
• percentage of calls for tender which were split into lots. innovation in procurement. The public sector sets challenges to
innovative businesses by publishing different open ‘tasks’. For
In addition, the indicator on e-procurement has been removed.
instance, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport runs a
Therefore, the overall performance in this area cannot be
compared to last year’s. challenge to encourage people to move and use more
sustainable materials at sport centres. The Province of South-
The Netherlands continues to remain below the EU average in Holland welcomed start-ups to work on their waterways by the
this SBA area. The country ranks last in the EU in terms of the SBIR-approach (Small Business Innovation Research) and the city
share of businesses that take part in public tenders (only 15% in of Amsterdam invited innovators to be involved in the
2017). The new indicators included in this year’s fact sheet show maintenance of their piers in an innovation partnership.
mixed results. Fewer than 17% of public tenders were split into
lots, against an EU average of 30%. The proportion of bids A broad range of Dutch governments (national, regional and
coming from SMEs increased very slightly from 70.3% in 2017 local level) are also setting up ‘Start-up in residence (SIR)’
to 71.6% in 2018, and the share of awards for which the winner programmes. The aim of SIR is to contribute towards a shift in
was an SME fell markedly from 73% in 2017 to 63% in 2018. public procurement to innovation. Start-ups with innovative ideas
to tackle social challenges can collaborate with various levels of
The Netherlands has accelerated progress on State aid & public government and work out new solutions for policy issues. The
procurement since 2008, with recent measures put in place to Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, together with
foster progress. The 2012 Public Procurement Act the Ministry of Economic Affairs are preparing a joint SIR
(‘Aanbestedingswet 2012’) was designed to improve access to programme. This practice contributes to making procurement
public tenders for SMEs. Amendments to the Act were adopted in accessible to start-ups and utilising innovation potential rather
2016, transposing the latest EU procurement directives. The than discarding it due to lack of experience.
Netherlands also designed a proportionality guide to help
implement the new concepts applicable to SMEs. In addition, it
set up an online platform, TenderNed, to provide better visibility

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 9

3.5 Access to finance

Netherlands’ performance in the SBA principle access to finance During the reference period, the Netherlands continued to take
is above the EU average, reflecting moderate progress since action to make seed capital more available. It shifted its focus
2008. Among the best performing indicators in this area are across different areas and principles towards leveraging the
business angel funding for new and growing firms, faring well potential of public-private partnerships (PPPs).
above the EU average with the highest score in the EU.
Compared with the previous reference period, however, the score Policy measures to support SMEs involve public institutions,
has slightly declined (from 3.8 in 2017 to 3.5 in 2018). The business stakeholders, knowledge institutions and more besides.
Netherlands ranks fourth in terms of access to public financial
- The Netherlands launched the Fund for Responsible
support, with only 7.3% of surveyed respondents perceiving a
Business (Fonds Verantwoord Ondernemen). The Fund
deterioration in the situation. This is a good result compared with
specialises in funding activities, contributing to the
other Member States, however, it has worsened since the
international corporate social responsibility (ICSR) of Dutch
previous reference period, when the share of respondents was
companies. Its aim is to tackle ICSR risks in their
5.9%. Although it ranks highly on access to funding measures, international value chains, providing financing for
the Netherlands has the third highest cost of borrowing for small businesses to apply international OECD CSR-guidelines and
loans relative to large loans. map CSR-related risks. With its activities, the Fund supports
collaboration between entrepreneurs, organisations active in
Since 2008, the Netherlands has used a range of different the social economy, and government authorities, so that
measures to improve access to finance for SMEs, specifically they can all work together to create sustainable value
access to risk capital. It tackled the financing gap for microcredit chains’?
by launching ‘Qredits’ in 2015. The organisation provides loans - Though the SEED capital scheme has been active since
for SMEs of up to €250,000, focusing on the hospitality, retail 2005, the Netherlands put greater focus on this type of
and business services sectors. Another measure to improve SME funding in 2018. The SME action plan announced the new
finance is the ‘BMKB’ (Borgstellingskrediet MKB, an initiative budget for the scheme, amounting to €32 million annually,
tackling the high percentage of businesses having their loan and amendments in the tender procedure were
applications rejected. implemented. Financing is now available twice per year
through a general- and a sector-specific tender. The sector-
specific focus fell on agri-food and life sciences in 2018,

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 10

 while in 2019 young companies active in clean-tech and Allowing companies to expand the type of assets that can
renewable energy will be the focus. be used as collateral for financing purposes is expected to
- SME-Innovation Stimulation Region and Top Sectors (MKB- improve the liquidity of businesses and may give a boost to
innovatiestimulering Regio en Topsectoren) is a subsidy innovation spending.
scheme, specialising in the financing of knowledge- - Since the beginning of 2018, start-ups with research and
developing activities for SMEs active in selected sectors. development activities are able to offer stock options as
Funding is available for feasibility projects, knowledge part of the remuneration package for their employees, with
vouchers and collaboration projects. The supported sectors only 75% subject to the payroll tax (up to a maximum
include agri-food, chemistry, energy, creative industry, life benefit of €12,500). The Ministry of Finance and the
sciences and health. Ministry of Economic Affairs have announced the start of
- Although the majority of new financing policies seem to consultations to find the optimal solution to improve the tax
concentrate on strategic economic sectors (renewable rules governing stock options.
energy, life sciences and health, agri-food etc.), lifting the
pledging prohibition (Afschaffing verbod op verpanding)
applies to all SMEs. The measure aims to prevent the loss
of credit for SMEs, estimated at around €1 billion annually.

3.6 Single market

The Netherlands continues to perform well in this SBA area with Since 2008, the Netherlands has achieved moderate progress in
most indicators showing scores well above the EU average. The this area. Though it started in a strong position on this SBA
country has the highest score in easy market access for new and principle, the Dutch government has taken steps to make
growing firms. The Netherlands also has the third lowest number additional improvements, such as setting up an online platform
of single market directives not yet transposed in the EU. This is for SMEs to inform authorities of unfair competition, and the
in line with improvements made in the average transposition ‘Cross-Border Economy and Labour Action Programme’, which
time for overdue directives, which fell from 13.2 months in 2017 provides services and information to companies in border
to 10.8 months in 2018, still below average, however. regions. The transposition of the ‘Late Payment Directive’ in
2013 was an additional important step in the area. The Directive
sets a maximum payment deadline for invoices for business

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 11

transactions, giving companies a legal basis to improve their internationalisation, that also benefit the development of
finances. Furthermore, the website ‘betaalme.nu’, launched in opportunities offered by the single market. Partnerships and
2015, aims to ease access to liquidity for SMEs. networks that support inter-regional and European-level
collaboration between companies in specific sectors, such as
Although the Netherlands did not implement any specific Photon Delta (see next section), act as leaders in European
additional measures over the reference period on this SBA associations. This puts them in a unique position to disseminate
principle, it runs many initiatives, mainly geared to information on single market policy.

3.7 Skills & innovation

The Netherlands continues to score above the EU average on The Netherlands has put a clear focus on skills & innovation
this front. It achieves the strongest performance in terms of policies, achieving very positive results since 2008. It launched
national R&D available to SMEs. It is also among the highest the ‘Technology Pact’ (Techniekpact) in 2013. This is a public-
performing countries ranked by the percentage of companies private partnership between government, employers, employees,
employing ICT specialists. This indicates a solid human capital educational institutes, youth representing organisations, top
and potential for innovation and is linked to the Netherlands’ sectors, and regions. The aim is to increase the number of STEM-
strong position in the percentage of SMEs innovating in-house. educated (Science – Technology – Engineering – Mathematics)
SMEs in the Netherlands also continue to make more product people and to upgrade the technical and technological skills of
and process innovations than their EU peers, on average (49% everyone. In the pact, the partners agreed to pursue several
against 33% on average). Nevertheless, there is still room for specific measures to achieve this goal.
improvement regarding sales of new-to-market and new-to-firm
innovations, which rank below the EU average.

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 12

The interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 suggested taking a between knowledge institutions, construction
mission-oriented approach to innovation policy. The Dutch associations, companies and the Ministries of
government followed this suggestion in its ‘mission-oriented Economic Affairs, Internal Affairs and Transport and
innovation policy with impact’ (Missiegedreven Innovatiebeleid Water Management. It was set up to tackle the
met Impact). Ministries, together with a broad range of sustainability challenges of the sector, aiming to
stakeholders and the ‘top sectors’, will develop an integral establish long-term knowledge sharing programmes to
approach for societal challenges and a targeted innovation foster innovation. The centre connects the private
agenda that covers the whole ‘innovation chain’. It will focus on sector to policymakers, facilitating bilateral
public procurement and on removing obstructing rules and laws. communication. It also contributes to the achievement
In their innovation agenda, the ‘top sectors’ need to ensure value of the Dutch Construction Agenda goals in terms of
innovation.
creation and market creation and explicitly involve innovative
newcomers. This approach will facilitate market entrance and - The Ministry of Economic Affairs published a new
strengthen innovation networks, which can benefit SMEs. The National Digital Strategy (Nederland Digitaal) in 2018.
policy will pay specific attention to the role of SMEs in The strategy is described as one of the government’s
innovation. One of the first measures is to create the sector- main policies in its agenda. It sets eight goals for
specific programme ‘Go-Chem’, a one-stop-shop for green digitalisation in the areas of education, government,
chemistry, addressing the whole value chain, including SMEs. health, agriculture, mobility, energy, industry and SMEs.
This initiative will be followed by a similar one-stop-shop for the Implementation of the policy agenda will follow a
creative industry. bottom-up approach, with successful regional
initiatives scaled up to disseminate best practices and
The Netherlands launched several measures over the reference to stimulate cooperation between stakeholders.
period in this SBA area. The majority of new measures - As part of the event ‘The Future of Trust Summit
concentrate on fostering technology-driven sectors. 2018’, Startup Delta presented a white paper to the
State Secretary of Interior and Kingdom Relations on
- The Dutch government launched an SME action agenda the development of a national blockchain strategy. The
(MKB-Actieplan) in 2018. Its aim is to help SMEs document discusses the state of play of the
address the challenges of the future. It comprises development of blockchain technology in the
specific measures in a number of areas, such as Netherlands. It also analyses the opportunities and
human capital, financing, innovation and digitalisation. challenges, measuring performance against the global
fintech centres.
- ‘SME Idea’ (MKB!dee), which started in 2018 with plans - Photon Delta is a public-private partnership network,
to be scaled up by 2021, is an experimental subsidy launched in December 2018. It comprises 20
scheme. Its aim is to stimulate SMEs to invest more in organisations, including businesses, regional
training and development. SMEs are asked to come up governments and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and
with solutions for barriers encountered when investing the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
in human capital, through a grant subsidy, covering the The network follows a strategic eight-year plan to
full amount of eligible costs. accelerate and develop the Dutch photonics industry,
with the aim of being a ‘one-stop shop’ for the
- The Dutch government has stimulated public-private
manufacturing of integrated photonic chips. It also
partnerships in vocational education and universities of
supports inter-regional collaborations and funding
applied science since 2011, with success. Over 150
strategies for SMEs.
such public-private partnerships existed in 2018. More
- The programme ‘Redeem your talent’
than 50,000 students, 4,000 teachers and 6,000
(talentprogramma ‘verzilver je talent’) is a public-
companies (most of which are SMEs) have participated private partnership, launched in 2018 by the Ministry
in these partnerships. The goal of these initiatives is to of Economic Affairs, comprising two pilots: Vertical
improve collaboration between society, companies and Farming in Greenport Zuid-Holland and FinTech in
educational institutes. The partnerships have resulted collaboration with the University of Utrecht. The
in an up-to-date curriculum and higher numbers of programme is designed to connect entrepreneurs and
students enrolled, life-long learning for professionals students and to generate collaborations. Teachers
and innovation projects for companies. benefit from the programme as it helps them to
- June 2018 saw the creation of the Construction and develop practical courses and innovation in education.
Innovation Centre (Bouw en Techniek The topics central to the programme are food-tech,
Innovatiecentrum). It is a public-private partnership health-tech, energy-tech and fintech.

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 13

3.8 Environment

The Netherlands recorded an above-average performance on electricity, industry, built environment, traffic and transport, and
this SBA principle. Though updated indicators are not available, agriculture. Specific measures were taken in this reference
the country has one of the highest shares of SMEs that have period.
taken resource-efficiency measures in the EU — 93% in 2017.
The Netherlands also performs well above the EU average in - A new requirement for energy savings entered into
terms of the percentage of SMEs selling green products and force in January 2019. All companies and public
services. Nevertheless, the available data show there is room for institutions, consuming over 50,000 kWh of electricity
or 25,000 m3 of natural gas are obliged to provide
improvement in the share of SMEs that receive public support
information on energy savings measures
measures for producing green products, at 20% in 2017. This is,
(Informatieplicht energiebesparing). These data are
however, a notable increase since 2015, when the share was
important to establish whether organisations fulfil
only 9%.
their energy saving obligations.
- An updated list of energy savings measures
Since 2008, the Netherlands has adopted significant policy
(Maatregelen voor energiebesparing) was adopted in
measures to support this SBA principle. The country was the first
2019. Initially covering 7 industries, the list was
in Europe to launch a circular economy programme, introduced
amended to include 19 industries, thus expanding the
in 2014 and extended in 2016. The Dutch government is
obligation.
committed to accelerating the transition towards a circular
- The Dutch Water Authorities (Unie van Waterschappen)
economy by formulating ‘transition agendas’. These define launched the Circular Innovation Challenge (Circulaire
specific sectors relevant to the sustainable economy (biomass Innovatie Chellenge), a competition for innovative
and food, plastics, consumer goods, the manufacturing industry companies to compete with their solutions to support a
and the construction industry). A significant step in this transition sustainable environment. Companies could compete in
was the government’s 2017 Energy Agenda, which sets two categories of projects: processing biomass from
sustainability goals to be achieved by 2050. riverbanks for high quality new products and products
that prevent shore calving. Successful projects were
Over the reference period, the Netherlands’ ambitious eligible for funding amounting to €80,000 per project.
sustainable energy goals continued to play an important role in Such challenges contribute to the circular water
national politics. In June 2018, it adopted a Climate Act calling management in the country and promote innovative
for a 49% reduction of greenhouse gasses by 2030, and a 95% environmental solutions by SMEs.
reduction by 2050. This led in December 2018 to a broad civil
agreement between many parties and stakeholders that can
contribute to reaching these reduction goals: the Climate
Agreement (Klimaatakkoord). Five broad sectors are involved:

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 14

3.9 Internationalisation

The Netherlands continue to perform above the EU average on multi-annual plan regarding the internationalisation of
internationalisation. Overall, there are no underperforming Dutch businesses. Among its initial assignments was to
indictors in this SBA principle, with all either above or in line with draft a plan for business expansion in strategic
the EU average. The country scores well in terms of involvement countries and regions.
in the trade community, sharing the highest score with other - Trade & Innovate NL is another cooperation
Member States. It also fares well on availability of information, mechanism between government ministries and eight
maintaining its above-average position. Despite an increase in public organisations, representing major cities and
the share of SMEs that export online outside the EU, the provinces in the Netherlands. The initiative focuses on
indicator remains in line with the average. supporting the internationalisation of Dutch companies
and is rooted in the conviction that international
Since 2008, the Netherlands has developed a number of policy opportunities can best be unlocked by having a well-
measures to promote the internationalisation of Dutch functioning collaboration and exchange network in the
companies. For instance, in 2016 the ‘Brexit Information Desk’ Netherlands.
(Informatieloket over de Brexit) was set up at the Dutch Embassy - The Joint Innovation Programme with Brazil is
in London with the aim to help entrepreneurs navigate through designed to facilitate collaboration between Dutch
the complex environment ensuing after Brexit, by providing companies and knowledge institutions and their
Brazilian counterparts, with a focus on technology.
advice and suggestions. In 2017, the ‘Team NL’ initiative
Businesses operating in the bio-economy and health
constituted a new strategic policy approach, comprising
sectors are eligible to apply for grants. The initiative
investment plans for target regions.
contributes to measures supporting business expansion
to non-EU markets, and also fosters research and
Over the reference period, the Netherlands announced the
innovation.
following new measures supporting the internationalisation of
- A number of Dutch embassies and consulates offer
SMEs.
start-up liaison support to help Dutch start-ups and
- Announced in 2017, the International Strategic Board scale-ups explore opportunities abroad. The aim of this
(ISB NL) was established in early 2018 as a forum for support is to facilitate potential entry to international
cooperation between government ministries, markets for companies.
knowledge institutions and the private sector. The
Board’s purpose is to facilitate the development of a
joint international strategy, joint branding and a joint

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 15

4. Interesting initiative

Below is an example of an initiative from the Netherlands, showing what governments can do to support SMEs.

‘SME Idea’ (MKB Idee)

Investing in human capital is essential for the future resilience of the Dutch economy. Enhancing productivity and driving
transitions such as digitalisation or the climate-transition all require investing in people.

Several studies* have pointed out that SMEs are less likely than large firms to invest in education and training for their
employees and managers. SMEs, especially in technological sectors, are seen to underperform in terms of investing in human
capital.

With SME Idea, the Dutch government is challenging entrepreneurs to propose ideas and, if selected by the advisory
committee, to implement them. The business plans for their ideas must focus on removing the obstacles encountered by SME
entrepreneurs when investing in training and development of their current and future workers.

SME Idea does not finance training itself. The aim is to encourage entrepreneurs and their employees to invest more in
human capital. SME Idea is an experiment: learning what works is one of the main goals.

References:

www.rvo.nl/mkbidee

* e.g. Enhancing productivity in SMEs, OECD April 26 2019.

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 16

Important remarks
The European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) produces the
SBA fact sheets as part of the SME Performance Review (SPR), its main vehicle for economic analysis of SME issues. They
combine the latest available statistical and policy information. Published annually, they help to organise the available information
to facilitate SME policy assessments and monitor SBA implementation. They take stock and record progress. They are not an
assessment of Member State policies. Rather, they should be regarded as an additional source of information to improve
evidence-based policy-making. For example, they cite only policy measures national SME policy experts consider relevant. They do
not and cannot reflect all measures the government has taken over the reference period. There is more policy information on a
database accessible from the SPR website.

SME Performance Review:

http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/performance-review/

[email protected]

Small Business Act:

http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/small-business-act/index_en.htm

Entrepreneurship and SMEs:

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes

Endnotes

1
The two graphs below illustrate the trend over time for the variables. They consist of index values for the years since 2008, with
the base year 2008 set at a value of 100. As from 2017, the graphs show estimates of the development over time, produced by
DIW Econ on the basis of 2008-2016 figures from Eurostat’s Structural Business Statistics Database. The data cover the ‘non-
financial business economy’, which includes industry, construction, trade and services (NACE Rev. 2 sections B to J, L, M and N).
They do not cover companies in agriculture, forestry and fisheries or largely non-market service sectors such as education and
health. A detailed methodology can be consulted at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/performance-
review/
2
The Netherlands has nine top innovative sectors: horticulture and propagation materials, agri-food, water, life sciences and
health, chemicals, high tech, energy, logistics, creative industries.

https://www.government.nl/topics/enterprise-and-innovation/encouraging-innovation

3
https://www.government.nl/topics/enterprise-and-innovation/encouraging-innovation

4
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/ecfin_forecast_winter_1317_nl_en_0.pdf

5
https://www.kvk.nl/download/DataBedrijvendynamiekJaaroverzicht2018_tcm109-472548.pdf

6
https://www.accountant.nl/nieuws/2019/2/recordaantal-bedrijven-opgericht-in-2018/

7
https://www.accountant.nl/nieuws/2019/2/recordaantal-bedrijven-opgericht-in-2018/

8
www.europeanstartupmonitor2019.eu

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 17

9
Due to data availability, the data on high-growth firms refers to the ‘business economy’ only, which covers sections B-N
including section K (financial activities, except activities of holding companies). The ‘non-financial business economy’ excludes
section K.

10
In line with Commission implementing Regulation (EU) No 439/2014, high-growth enterprises are defined as firms with at
least 10 employees in the beginning of their growth and average annualised growth in number of employees greater than 10%
per annum, over a 3-year period. The share of high-growth enterprises is the number of high-growth enterprises divided by the
number of active enterprises with at least 10 employees. Source of the data on high-growth enterprises is Eurostat
(http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/bd_9pm_r2, last accessed 15.4.2019).

11
The 2019 SBA fact sheets benefited substantially from input from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in
Ispra, Italy. The JRC made major improvements to the methodological approach, statistical work on the dataset and the visual
presentation of the data.

12
The quadrant chart combines two sets of information. Firstly, it shows current performance based on data for the latest
available years. This information is plotted along the X-axis measured in standard deviations of the simple, non-weighted
arithmetical average for the EU. Secondly, it shows progress over time, i.e. the average annual growth rates from 2008 to 2019.
These are measured against the individual indicators which make up the SBA area averages. Hence, the location of a particular
SBA area average in any of the four quadrants provides information not only about where the country is located in this SBA area
relative to the EU average at a given point in time, but also about the extent of progress made between 2008 and 2019. All SB A
principles, with the exception of the ‘think small first’ principle for which there is not enough statistical data available, are
calculated as composite indicators following the OECD/JRC Handbook guide. A detailed methodology can be consulted at:
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/performance-review/
13
The policy measures presented in this SBA fact sheet are only a selection of the measures the government took in 2018 and
the first quarter of 2019. The national SME policy expert that PwC (DG GROW’s lead contractor for the 2019 SBA fact sheets)
contracted made the selection. The experts were asked to select only the measures they considered the most important, i.e. the
ones expected to have the highest impact in the SBA area in question. The complete range of measures the experts compiled in
producing this year’s fact sheets will be published alongside the fact sheets in the form of a policy database on the DG GROW
website.
14
Tieners hebben steeds vaker een eigen onderneming, https://www.metronieuws.nl/start/2019/01/tieners-hebben-steeds-
vaker-een-eigen-onderneming, last accessed 12.6.19

2019 SBA Fact Sheet — Netherlands 18