'Everything must be done strictly by the book' is an apt phrase to describe the Dutch attitude towards permits and regulations. We live in a small and densely populated country, so every thinkable physical activity conducted by a business is covered by some sort of permission or license and if it is not, it is covered by general rules.
This love for rules and regulations is also reflected by the fact that the Dutch population has a very dim view of companies that flaunt those rules. Recent incidents such as the Chemie-Pack or Odfjell cases near the port of Rotterdam have also put public pressure on the authorities to crack down on companies that operate without, or outside the bounds of, the required permits. Furthermore, when they crack down, the authorities in the Netherlands have no qualms about imposing significant fines and threatening closure of a plant if it is not compliant. This climate has made permits and compliance an important issue when doing business in the Netherlands. This in turn has made it essential for the English language legal counsel employed with companies that have physical activities in the Netherlands to have at least a basic understanding of the permit system in the Netherlands.
The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment recently updated their site with English language information regarding environmental permits and related issues in het Netherlands, providing a much needed resource for English language legal counsel dealing with environmental and planning matters in the Netherlands. The information still requires some background knowledge about the Dutch permit system however. In this post I will provide a short introduction to the subject.
The "all-in one" Wabo permit
In the Netherlands, all physical activities that are conducted by a business at a certain location will generally be covered by one permit. This permit (also known as a license, authorization or warrant) is called the 'Wabo' permit, named after the law on which it is based. The license is also sometimes referred to as the 'All-in-one' permit, alluding to the fact that the permit is intended as a document that provides all the necessary permissions in one go.
The Wabo permit will have three main components for which permission is provided. These are: the 'A' activity sub-permit (building permission), the 'C' activity sub-permit (planning and zoning permission) and the 'E' activity sub-permit (environmental permission). Depending on the specific activity and circumstances fewer or extra specific permissions may be required (a total of 19 different sub-permissions are possible depending on the activity and the municipality involved). The specific requirements for each sub-permit are quite complex and spread across different laws and decrees (such as the Dutch Environmental Management Act ('Wet milieubeheer'), the Spatial Planning Act ('Wet ruimtelijke ordening') and the Building Decree 2012 ('Bouwbesluit 2012')).
It should be noted that planning and zoning permission is not required if the applicable zoning plan already allows for the planned development. Furthermore it is useful to note with respect to the environmental (sub-)permit that this license is only required by a specific subset of companies in the Netherlands that are deemed to have a significant environmental impact. A 2010 census indicated that 95% of all companies that impacted the environment in some way in the Netherlands did not require an environmental permit but were only subject to the 'Activities Decree' ('Activiteitenbesluit') which contains general rules on (for example) noise emissions, waste treatment and other environmental issues. The Ministry has provided a clear and concise explanation of this decree in their recent website update.
The 'Wabo' permit is generally issued by the municipal administration. As a rule of thumb, if the facility has a very significant impact on the environment, the provincial administration will issue the permit. This is the case with sites that are subject to the (European) Seveso III directive and/or the Industrial Emissions Directive.
Permits for large production sites
As a side note, there are three permits that are usually required for large production sites in the Netherlands but which are not covered by the 'Wabo' permit. These are:
- the permit for discharging waste into the waterways ('Waterwet vergunning');
- the permit for impacting protected nature areas ('Natuurbeschermingswet vergunning');
- the permit for impacting protected species ('Flora en Faunawet vergunning').
The Discharge permit is issued by the Waterboard ('Waterschap') or (in case of discharge into national waterways â the Department of Waterways and Public Works ('Rijkswaterstaat'). The license for impacting protected nature areas is issued by the provincial authority. The license for impacting protected species is issued by the Minister for the Environment.
Legal recourse
A permit including C (planning) and E (environmental) activities will always include a round of public consultations before the permit is issued. Once the permit has been issued, those with sufficient cause (usually those living nearby, competitors or environmental NGO's) can request a quashing order from the district court within six weeks of the permit being published. After judgment (complex cases usually take 1,5 years), parties have six weeks to appeal to the Council of State, the highest judge in administrative matters. The Council of State tends to pass judgement within 1 year of receiving a case.
Consequences of non-compliance
Be warned: not having the relevant permits or not operating within the limits set by those permits will usually have serious consequences. Dutch authorities have a duty to enforce effectively and under Dutch law those with sufficient cause (such as neighbours) can request and effectively force the closure of (part of) the plant or the imposition of (conditional) fines if the breach continues.
Thomas Sanders LLM, MSc, MA, is a lawyer with AKD in the Netherlands. He specializes in the (enforcement of) Dutch planning and environmental law. He is currently working towards his PhD on the subject of administrative enforcement law in the Netherlands at the University of Leiden.
'Everything must be done strictly by the book' is an apt phrase to describe the Dutch attitude towards permits and regulations. We live in a small and densely populated country, so every thinkable physical activity conducted by a business is covered by some sort of permission or license and if it is not, it is covered by general rules.
This love for rules and regulations is also reflected by the fact that the Dutch population has a very dim view of companies that flaunt those rules. Recent incidents such as the Chemie-Pack or Odfjell cases near the port of Rotterdam have also put public pressure on the authorities to crack down on companies that operate without, or outside the bounds of, the required permits. Furthermore, when they crack down, the authorities in the Netherlands have no qualms about imposing significant fines and threatening closure of a plant if it is not compliant. This climate has made permits and compliance an important issue when doing business in the Netherlands. This in turn has made it essential for the English language legal counsel employed with companies that have physical activities in the Netherlands to have at least a basic understanding of the permit system in the Netherlands.
The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment recently updated their site with English language information regarding environmental permits and related issues in het Netherlands, providing a much needed resource for English language legal counsel dealing with environmental and planning matters in the Netherlands. The information still requires some background knowledge about the Dutch permit system however. In this post I will provide a short introduction to the subject.
The "all-in one" Wabo permit
In the Netherlands, all physical activities that are conducted by a business at a certain location will generally be covered by one permit. This permit (also known as a license, authorization or warrant) is called the 'Wabo' permit, named after the law on which it is based. The license is also sometimes referred to as the 'All-in-one' permit, alluding to the fact that the permit is intended as a document that provides all the necessary permissions in one go.
The Wabo permit will have three main components for which permission is provided. These are: the 'A' activity sub-permit (building permission), the 'C' activity sub-permit (planning and zoning permission) and the 'E' activity sub-permit (environmental permission). Depending on the specific activity and circumstances fewer or extra specific permissions may be required (a total of 19 different sub-permissions are possible depending on the activity and the municipality involved). The specific requirements for each sub-permit are quite complex and spread across different laws and decrees (such as the Dutch Environmental Management Act ('Wet milieubeheer'), the Spatial Planning Act ('Wet ruimtelijke ordening') and the Building Decree 2012 ('Bouwbesluit 2012')).
It should be noted that planning and zoning permission is not required if the applicable zoning plan already allows for the planned development. Furthermore it is useful to note with respect to the environmental (sub-)permit that this license is only required by a specific subset of companies in the Netherlands that are deemed to have a significant environmental impact. A 2010 census indicated that 95% of all companies that impacted the environment in some way in the Netherlands did not require an environmental permit but were only subject to the 'Activities Decree' ('Activiteitenbesluit') which contains general rules on (for example) noise emissions, waste treatment and other environmental issues. The Ministry has provided a clear and concise explanation of this decree in their recent website update.
The 'Wabo' permit is generally issued by the municipal administration. As a rule of thumb, if the facility has a very significant impact on the environment, the provincial administration will issue the permit. This is the case with sites that are subject to the (European) Seveso III directive and/or the Industrial Emissions Directive.
Permits for large production sites
As a side note, there are three permits that are usually required for large production sites in the Netherlands but which are not covered by the 'Wabo' permit. These are:
- the permit for discharging waste into the waterways ('Waterwet vergunning');
- the permit for impacting protected nature areas ('Natuurbeschermingswet vergunning');
- the permit for impacting protected species ('Flora en Faunawet vergunning').
The Discharge permit is issued by the Waterboard ('Waterschap') or (in case of discharge into national waterways â the Department of Waterways and Public Works ('Rijkswaterstaat'). The license for impacting protected nature areas is issued by the provincial authority. The license for impacting protected species is issued by the Minister for the Environment.
Legal recourse
A permit including C (planning) and E (environmental) activities will always include a round of public consultations before the permit is issued. Once the permit has been issued, those with sufficient cause (usually those living nearby, competitors or environmental NGO's) can request a quashing order from the district court within six weeks of the permit being published. After judgment (complex cases usually take 1,5 years), parties have six weeks to appeal to the Council of State, the highest judge in administrative matters. The Council of State tends to pass judgement within 1 year of receiving a case.
Consequences of non-compliance
Be warned: not having the relevant permits or not operating within the limits set by those permits will usually have serious consequences. Dutch authorities have a duty to enforce effectively and under Dutch law those with sufficient cause (such as neighbours) can request and effectively force the closure of (part of) the plant or the imposition of (conditional) fines if the breach continues.
Thomas Sanders LLM, MSc, MA, is a lawyer with AKD in the Netherlands. He specializes in the (enforcement of) Dutch planning and environmental law. He is currently working towards his PhD on the subject of administrative enforcement law in the Netherlands at the University of Leiden.