The European Commission has positively assessed the Netherlands’ fourth payment request for €661 million in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery programme.
The assessment confirms that the Netherlands has satisfactorily completed the 9 milestones and 15 targets linked to the payment request. The measures cover areas including renewable energy, energy efficiency, innovation, education, taxation and pension reform.
Among the energy-related measures, the payment request includes investments aimed at enabling offshore wind generation and measures contributing to more than 820,000 energy-saving upgrades for homes across the Netherlands.
Support for renewable energy and green hydrogen
The package also includes measures to support the development of green hydrogen, through research and demonstration projects designed to increase its use.
Beyond the energy sector, the investments cover projects aimed at improving digital education solutions and supporting the up- and reskilling of unemployed people.
The payment request also includes economic and tax reforms, including measures to limit tax loopholes and support the Netherlands’ transition towards a new pension system.
€3.73 billion to be paid under the RRF
The Netherlands submitted its fourth payment request on 2 July 2026. Its national recovery and resilience plan is financed by €5.44 billion in grants and includes investments and reforms covering clean and digital objectives, energy efficiency, transport, public administration, employment and healthcare resilience.
If the fourth payment is approved, total RRF funds paid to the Netherlands will reach €3.73 billion, equivalent to 68.6% of the total funding allocated to the country under its national plan.
According to the Commission, 81.1% of all milestones and targets included in the Netherlands’ recovery and resilience plan will then have been fulfilled.
Payment still requires final approval
The Commission’s assessment is not yet the final payment decision. It has sent its preliminary assessment of the Netherlands’ fulfilment of the required milestones and targets to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to issue its opinion.
The payment can then proceed following the EFC’s opinion and the subsequent adoption of a payment decision by the European Commission.
With the Recovery and Resilience Facility scheduled to close at the end of 2026, EU member states must submit their final payment requests by the end of September 2026.
