The grants the Netherlands receives from the EU must be spent in accordance with the rules. Even if they are, however, it does not mean that they have had the intended effect and achieved the desired results.
Audits carried out by the Court of Audit between 2003 and 2016 found that insight there was often no insight into the outcomes (effectiveness) of EU funding or its prudent use (efficiency) to achieve the desired results. A more recent audit (2022) found that EU grants were a significant incentive to carry out a project. The achievements (outputs) delivered by the funding were usually also transparent. Like previous audits, however, this most recent audit concluded that it was often still uncertain what effect (outcome) the use of EU funds had had and whether their use had been an efficient means to achieve the desired results.
Below, we answer the following questions:
Last updated in April 2026, situation in January 2026.