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Factsheet for measure NL-2020-12/753 – Updated – measures in Netherlands
Country | Netherlands , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 17 March 2020 – 30 June 2022 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Access to finance |
Author | Amber van der Graaf (Panteia) |
Measure added | 21 April 2020 (updated 01 September 2022) |
This measure is part of the package of emergency solutions to deal with the COVID-19. This was a package of several measures which have been taken to contrast the outbreak and its effects, announced on 17 March, 2020.
This measure aims to help small farms and farmers to keep their businesses afloat. It targets enterprises in the horti- and agricultural sectors as a whole because this sector was one of the first to feel a marked hit from the crisis. This includes the provision of food and other grown products, not just for domestic consumption but also for trade. The seasonality of work in this sector and the timing of the COVID-19 crisis seem to have led to this group of enterprises receiving specific support.
The sectors covered here by this measure include the agriculture and horticulture sector, the fisheries sector, and the aquaculture sector. These sectors are all confronted by an international and domestic decrease in demand for their produce.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit - LNV), will therefore temporarily underwrite working capital granted to farms and horticultural companies under the the Guarantee for Agricultural SME Credit, (Borgstelling MKB-Landbouwkredieten), which is part of the Guarantee SME Loans scheme for small and medium-sized farms and enterprises.
In this way, the government will act as a guarantor for loans granted to farms. The government seeks to ensure that the scope of this scheme will be broadened in the short term. Enterprises can seek credit to bridge their troubled times of up to €15 million, for which the Ministry of LNV will act as guarantor for up to 70%. The credit will be for a maximum of two years. This measure was set to stay into force for three months initially, but the timing for COVID-19-related measures is constantly evolving and this may change.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
09 March 2022 |
The BL-C loan guarantee was extended until 30 June 2022. |
11 May 2021 |
The BL-C loan can be requested until 31 December 2021. |
13 July 2020 |
The scheme existed before the COVID-19 crisis. This measure has been extended since 18 March with an extra module, namely offering users a guarantee for a bridging loan, to bridge the difficult period caused by the crisis. Healthy farms, horticulture, fisheries and aquaculture companies affected or affected by the Corona virus outbreak can continue to be financed through this. As of 10 April 2020 aquaculture farms can also make use, retroactively, of the measure. They can make use of the measure, just as other farming and fishing entrepreneurs, from 18 March 2020. |
CBS (Central Statistics Office) data of 31 May 2021 indicates a number of 210 companies receiving a BL-C guarantee, with a total amount of €60 million.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers |
Sector specific set of companies
|
Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
|
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Consulted | Consulted |
Form | Direct consultation outside a formal body | Direct consultation outside a formal body |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
Since the outbreak of the Corona crisis, the government has had regular and close consultation with the social partners. Together the national level social partners and the government arrived at the first and second packages of emergency measures, announced 17 March and 20 May respectively.
Though not discussed in great detail, the social partners (national level trade unions and employer organisations), have come together to discuss with the government how best to tackle the effects of the corona virus on workers and employers so as to keep the Dutch economy going. In the Netherlands relevant, national sectoral social partners are often involved in national policy making in a consultational capacity so that partners may reflect on regulatory plans and their intended impacts. This happens in a direct consultation fashion or through tripartite meetings (facilitated by the National Labour Foundation). The social partners were consulted for the whole package of measures introduced by the Dutch cabinet on 17 March 2020.
This case is sector-specific
Economic area | Sector (NACE level 2) |
---|---|
A - Agriculture, Forestry And Fishing | A1 Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities |
A2 Forestry and logging | |
A3 Fishing and aquaculture |
This case is not occupation-specific.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Temporary guarantees for companies active in agriculture and horticulture sectors, measure NL-2020-12/753 (measures in Netherlands), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/NL-2020-12_753.html
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