Ministry of Economic Affairs (Netherlands)

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (Dutch: Ministerie van Economische Zaken; EZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for international trade, commercial, industrial, investment, technology, space policy, as well as tourism.

Ministry of Economic Affairs

Dutch: Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Ministry logo
Building of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
Department overview
Formed	17 August 1905; 119 years ago (1905-08-17)
Jurisdiction	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Headquarters	Bezuidenhoutseweg 73, The Hague, Netherlands
Annual budget	€5,2 billion (2018)[1]
Minister responsible	Dirk Beljaarts, Minister of Economic Affairs
Department executive	Sandor Gaastra, Secretary-General
Website	Ministry of Economic Affairs

The Ministry was created in 1905 as the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and has had several name changes before it became the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1946. In 2010 the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality was merged with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which was renamed as the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. In 2012 the name was reverted as the Ministry of Economic Affairs but kept the responsibilities of the former Ministry of Agriculture. In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality was reinstated but the Ministry of Economic Affairs took on several of the environmental policies portfolios from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, which was renamed Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The Ministry of Economic Affairs was renamed Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The old name was restored in 2024, when the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth was spun off.

The Minister of Economic Affairs (Dutch: Minister van Economische Zaken) is the head of the Ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The current Minister is Dirk Beljaarts who has been in office since July 2024.

Organisation

The Ministry has currently five Government Agencies and several Directorates:

Government Agencies				Responsibilities
		Foreign Investment Agency (Dutch: Buitenlandse Investering Bureau)	BIB	International trade
		Space Office	NSO	Space agency
		Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (Dutch: Centraal Planbureau)	CPB	Economic analysis
		Central Agency for Statistics (Dutch: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek)	CBS	Statistical services
		Patent Office (Dutch: Octrooicentrum Nederland)	OCN	Patent office

Mission

The mission of the Ministry is to "promote sustainable economic growth in the Netherlands." It focuses on the key areas of "Knowledge economy and innovation," "Competition and dynamic" and "Room to do business."

Organization

The political responsibility of the ministry is in the hands of the Minister of Economic Affairs who is part of the Dutch Cabinet. A Deputy Minister, called the State Secretary, serves as the second-in-command to the Minister.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has also a civil service department, led by the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General. The Ministry of Economic Affairs consists of four Directorates-General: Foreign Economic Relations, Economic Policy, Energy and Telecom, and Enterprise and Innovation. There are also some support departments.

Litigation

Main article: State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation

In June 2015, following a lawsuit filed by the NGO Urgenda, the Hague District Court found that the Ministry was unlawfully violating its duty of care under the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to adequately address climate change and ordered the government to reduce green house gas emissions.^[2] Instead, the Ministry appealed to the Hague Court of Appeal, which ruled against the Ministry in October 2018.^[3] The Ministry has appealed to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, where the court's Advocate and Procurator Generals have recommenced it rule against the Ministry.^[4]

See also

• List of ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands