Supplying Dutch Defence and EU programmes: your own company in the Netherlands
You make defence or dual-use equipment in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine or elsewhere. The Dutch defence budget is €26.8 billion in 2026. EU loans under SAFE and grants under EDIP ask for European content and European companies. Your own Dutch company (BV) is the contracting party, the EU-established supplier, the employer of your engineers and the holder of the export licences.
Ask about your situationA supplier from outside the EU can sell to the Dutch Ministry of Defence directly. Three rules make an own Dutch company useful. First, orders above €5 million come with industrial participation: the Commissariat for Military Production agrees with you which work goes to Dutch industry. Second, EU-funded procurement under SAFE allows at most 35% of the component cost from outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Ukraine, so at least 65% comes from inside. Third, EDIP grants go to companies established in the EU, with their management and facilities in the EU.
Your own Dutch company is a company established in the EU. It signs the contract with Defence, produces or assembles in the Netherlands, employs your engineers as a recognised sponsor and applies for the export licences at Dutch Customs. The company is yours: your address, your directors, your shares. We set up the company and arrange its registrations, bookkeeping, VAT and payroll. Export-control lawyers and security-screening specialists work as partners, at their own price, which you see first.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Who does what
We set up and manage the Dutch company. Specialist partners do the licence and product work. We are your only contact, with one file for all the work.
Your company
- Own the product, the technology and the export classification of your goods
- Decide the structure: subsidiary, joint venture with a Dutch partner, or both
- Talk to Defence, the prime contractors and the CMP about the orders and the industrial participation
- Sign the power of attorney for the formation and the applications
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch company (a BV), by power of attorney, with the notary
- KVK number, tax number, VAT number, EORI number
- Bank account, bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts and corporate tax
- Payroll, recognition as a sponsor at the IND and the applications for the expat scheme
- One contact for the export-control lawyer, the security-screening partner and the notary
Licences and product rules
- Export-control lawyer: classification of your goods and services, licence applications at the CDIU, sanctions screening
- Security screening of staff and premises for classified work
- Lawyer for the joint venture agreement with a Dutch manufacturer
- Introduction to the NIDV, the Dutch industry association for defence and security companies
Step by step
From your first question to a Dutch company that signs with Defence.
- Your question. You tell us what you make, which programme or buyer you aim at and whether your goods are on the military list or the dual-use list. You get a written answer with a suitable structure.
- The Dutch company. The notary sets up the BV by power of attorney, with your parent company as shareholder. You receive the KVK number, the tax number, the VAT number and the EORI number. We prepare the bank application.
- The people. Your Dutch company applies for recognition as a sponsor at the IND. Your engineers come over as highly skilled migrants. The payroll and the expat scheme are arranged.
- The licences. The export-control lawyer classifies your products and asks the CDIU for a preliminary view where useful. Your Dutch company applies for the licences it needs.
- The contracts. Your Dutch company signs with Defence or with the prime contractor. Above €5 million you agree the industrial participation with the CMP. For SAFE and EDIP projects, your company documents the origin of its components.
- Operations. Production, assembly or maintenance in the Netherlands. Your own company sends the invoices, and the bookkeeping and VAT are done for you. You have one contact person.
The programmes, the money and the rule for suppliers from outside the EU
| Programme | Money | Rule for a supplier from outside the EU | What your Dutch company does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch defence budget 2026 | €26.8 billion in 2026, an increase of €3.4 billion (budget of 16 September 2025) | Open to foreign suppliers. Orders above €5 million come with industrial participation. | Signs the contract with the Ministry of Defence, invoices in euros under Dutch law and employs the service staff. |
| NATO target | 5% of GDP a year by 2035: at least 3.5% core defence and up to 1.5% related spending (The Hague, 25 June 2025; review in 2029) | Ten years of rising budgets in all 32 allies, so suppliers plan long-term capacity in Europe. | Is the European base for production, assembly, maintenance and spare parts. |
| Defence Strategy for Industry and Innovation 2025 to 2029 | €1.15 billion for scaling up the defence industry, €310 million of it in 2025; five technology areas: smart materials, space, quantum, intelligent systems such as AI and drones, and sensors such as radar; the SecFund for scale-ups | The strategy strengthens Dutch industry and names closer cooperation with the defence industry of Ukraine. | Produces and develops in the Netherlands, as part of the Dutch defence industry. |
| Industrial participation (Commissariat for Military Production, CMP) | Applies to purchases of military materiel from a foreign supplier above €5 million | The CMP concludes an industrial participation agreement with the foreign supplier, who places work with Dutch manufacturers. Legal basis: Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. | Work your company does in the Netherlands is Dutch work. You agree the content with the CMP. |
| SAFE (Security Action for Europe) | Up to €150 billion in EU loans to member states for common procurement; regulation in force since 29 May 2025; plans of 18 member states approved between 11 February and 10 April 2026 | At most 35% of the component cost from outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Ukraine. Ukraine and the EEA countries take part on equal terms. Companies from the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Norway and other partner countries take part under a Security and Defence Partnership with the EU; Canada signed its agreement in June 2026. Category 2 systems such as air and missile defence, maritime systems and larger drones have stricter conditions on design authority. | Is the EU-established contractor or subcontractor. Components it makes in the Netherlands are EU components. |
| EDIP (European Defence Industry Programme) | €1.5 billion in grants for 2025 to 2027, of which €300 million for the defence industry of Ukraine; adopted by the Council on 8 December 2025 | Companies must be established in the EU, with their executive management there, and use EU-based infrastructure and facilities. At least 65% of the component cost comes from the EU or associated countries. The design authority is in the EU as a rule. | Is the EU-established company with its own management and facilities in the Netherlands. |
| Dutch and Ukrainian drone production | Framework agreement of 1 December 2025; first contract on 16 April 2026 for over €135 million | VDL Defentec in Born and the Ukrainian company GreentechHarvest produce the Baton and K4 drones in the Netherlands, with technology transfer, access to intellectual property and joint production. Production starts in 2026. | Is your joint venture or production company with a Dutch partner, under Dutch law. |
| Export control | Strategic Goods Decree, Strategic Services Act and Regulation (EU) 2021/821 on dual-use items | Military goods on the EU Common Military List and dual-use items need a licence for export from the Netherlands. The Central Import and Export Office (CDIU) of Dutch Customs assesses applications on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, against the eight EU criteria. Brokering, technical assistance, software and technology transfers, repair and training are strategic services with their own rules. | Is the exporter and the applicant for the licences. It can ask the CDIU for a preliminary view before you sign a contract. |
SAFE loans go to member states. Your company sells to the member state or to its prime contractor. The 65% rule applies to the procurement contract, so a prime contractor asks every supplier where its components come from.
Where your own Dutch company is required, and where it helps
Required for EDIP. EDIP grants go to companies established in the EU, with executive management in the EU and EU-based facilities. A subsidiary in the Netherlands with its own management team meets that description. Your group keeps the shares and the intellectual property policy you choose.
Useful for SAFE. SAFE counts component cost by origin. Components your Dutch company makes or assembles in the Netherlands count as EU components. A Ukrainian company has equal footing under SAFE, and a Dutch company gives it a second base inside the EU, next to its production at home.
The contracting party. The Ministry of Defence and the Dutch prime contractors sign with a Dutch company under Dutch law. Your Dutch company issues the invoices, keeps the service contracts and the stock of spare parts in the Netherlands.
Industrial participation. Above €5 million the CMP agrees with the foreign supplier which work goes to Dutch industry. Your own production, assembly, testing or maintenance in the Netherlands is Dutch work. You discuss the content of the agreement with the CMP yourself; we introduce you to the specialists.
The employer of your engineers. Your Dutch company applies to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) for recognition as a sponsor. It can then bring engineers to the Netherlands as highly skilled migrants. The gross monthly salary thresholds for 2026 are €5,942 for employees of 30 and older and €4,357 for younger employees. Employees recruited from abroad who meet the salary norm can receive 30% of their salary tax-free in 2026 and 27% from 2027. See hiring in the Netherlands and Dutch payroll.
The licences. The company that exports military goods or dual-use items from the Netherlands applies for the export licence. Your Dutch company is that exporter. It also keeps the records that Customs asks for. An export-control lawyer from our network checks the classification of your products and the strategic services you provide.
Tax. Corporate tax is 19% on the first €200,000 of profit and 25.8% above. Dividends to a parent company in a treaty country are usually free of Dutch dividend tax. The participation exemption applies to a Dutch holding above your European companies. See setting up a subsidiary in Europe.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
One Dutch company, many roles
One company can be the EU-established supplier for SAFE and EDIP, the contracting party with Defence, the employer of your engineers, the exporter with the licences and the partner in a joint venture with Dutch industry. Its VAT number, EORI number and payroll are in the same company.
The company is yours. You choose the address, you appoint the directors and you own the shares. We provide the formation, the registrations and the administration. The Netherlands Industries for Defence and Security (NIDV) is the Dutch industry association for defence companies; membership is your own choice.
Prices: your Dutch company (BV) from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. Partner work has its own price, which you see first. See company formation in the Netherlands.
Sources
- Ministry of Defence, Prinsjesdag: defence budget rises (16 September 2025): €26.8 billion in 2026.
- NATO, The Hague Summit Declaration (25 June 2025): 5% of GDP by 2035.
- Government of the Netherlands, new strategy for innovation and scaling up the defence industry (4 April 2025): €1.15 billion.
- Government of the Netherlands, industrial participation for defence materiel (updated 17 August 2026): orders above €5 million.
- Council of the EU, Security Action for Europe (SAFE) (reviewed 15 June 2026): €150 billion, in force 29 May 2025, at most 35% from outside the EU, EEA and Ukraine.
- Council of the EU, European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) (reviewed 28 September 2026): €1.5 billion, adopted 8 December 2025, 65% rule.
- Government of the Netherlands, Ukrainian drones from Limburg in sight (17 April 2026): VDL Defentec and GreentechHarvest in Born.
- Government of the Netherlands, laws and rules on the export of strategic goods and when do I need an export licence for military goods (2026): CDIU of Customs, the eight EU criteria.
- Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), highly skilled migrant and required amounts for 2026 (24 December 2025).
Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. Based on the sources named above, as they apply in October 2026. Export-control and security work is done by specialised partners; we coordinate.
Common questions
Ask about your own situation
Tell us what you make, which buyer or programme you aim at and where your company is. You receive advice on the structure that suits you.
Related guides
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