What EU grants does the Netherlands receive?

A large proportion of the EU budget is received by the member states in the form of grants under direct management and grants under shared management.

Direct management

Every year, the Netherlands receives funds from EU programmes that are managed solely by the European Commission (‘funds under direct management’). The Commission is responsible for the proper use of the funds and accounts for them.

Most of the EU funds under direct management are spent on research and innovation projects in the Horizon Europe programme (formerly known as Horizon 2020). The Commission’s Horizon 2020 dashboard shows that a total of €5.38 billion was awarded to Dutch organisations in 2014-2020. It also indicates that by the end of January 2026 funds had been granted to a total of €4.42 billion from the EU budget for 2021-2027.

Anther financially substantial source of funding for the Netherlands is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF, also known as the Corona Recovery Fund). It was established to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. To the end of 2026, the Netherlands will receive €5.4 billion. The Netherlands submitted its first 2 payment requests, for more than €2.5 billion, to the Commission in 2024 and a third request, worth €551 million, at the end of 2025. The Commission accepted the requests. The Netherlands will make a further 2 payment requests in 2026.

Shared management

Most EU funds are subject to shared management. The European Commission and the member states’ national governments are jointly responsible for the correct use of the funds and accountability for them.

In 2021-2027, the Netherlands will receive €8.1 billion in funds under shared management.

The grants under shared management the Netherlands will receive in 2021-2027 are awarded from the following funds:

• the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), 
• the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD),
• the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
• the Just Transition Fund (JTF),
• the European Social Fund (ESF+),
• the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), 
• the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF),
• the Integrated Border Management Fund (IBMF), 
• the Internal Security Fund (ISF).

The Netherlands received approximately €1.2 billion from these funds in 2024 (Source: Central Government Annual Financial Report 2024). 

The figure below shows the funds that the Netherlands is jointly responsible for. They are the funds under shared management plus the RRF. The State of the Netherlands as a recipient of RRF funding is accountable for its use.

The figure includes only funds under shared management, not funds under direct management such as Horizon Europe, which the Commission awards directly to beneficiaries in the Netherlands. The RRF is included because the State of the Netherlands receives the funds form the Commission and is accountable for their use.

Total amounts per fund rounded to the nearest € million, as at March 2025