Today, the European Commission positively assessed the Netherlands' fourth payment request of €661 million in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
This is an important step in the delivery of the reforms and investments tied to this payment request, among others in the areas of innovation, education and energy efficiency.
The Commission found that the Netherlands has satisfactorily completed all 9 milestones and 15 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision.
Credit: European Commission
Flagship measures in this payment request include:
- Major investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency: enabling offshore wind generation and contributing to over 820,000 energy-saving upgrades for homes across the Netherlands.
- Innovation and educational support: boosting the use of green hydrogen through research and demonstration projects, launching projects to improve digital education solutions and up- and reskilling of unemployed persons.
- Significant tax and economic reforms: limiting tax loopholes and supporting the transition to a new pension system.
Next steps
The Commission has now sent its preliminary assessment of the Netherlands' fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. The payment to the Netherlands can take place following the EFC's opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission later.
Background
The Netherlands submitted its fourth payment request on 2 July 2026. The Netherlands' recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures to support clean, digital and social objectives, such as making private homes and public buildings more energy efficient, digitalisation of education and public administrations, investments in transport, supporting jobless persons to become employed and strengthening the resilience of the public health system in crisis times. The plan is financed by €5.44 billion in grants. This payment request will bring the funds paid out to the Netherlands under the RRF to €3.73 billion, corresponding to 68.6% of all funds in its national plan, with 81,1% of all milestones and targets in the plan now fulfilled.
With a view to the closure of the Recovery and Resilience Facility at the end of 2026, Member States must submit last payment requests by the end of September 2026.