Public tenders in the Netherlands for contractors from outside the EU: what a Dutch company with real activity changes
Contractors and suppliers from Turkey, India, the Gulf states, China and Brazil compete for Dutch and EU public contracts on weaker terms than rivals from the EU or from countries that have signed a treaty on government purchases with the EU. Since the EU Court of Justice ruled in the Kolin case on 22 October 2024, each public buyer decides for itself whether to admit such a bidder. A Dutch company with its own staff, references, value added tax (VAT) number and blocked bank account for payroll taxes (G-account) bids as a company based in the EU, with the full rights that brings. The EU’s trade measures, however, still follow the country of the group that controls it.
Ask about your situationBidders from the EU and from the countries that have signed the World Trade Organization’s treaty on government purchases, the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), are entitled to equal treatment in Dutch public tenders above the EU thresholds. Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China and Brazil are outside that treaty, and the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in Kolin (C-652/22, 22 October 2024) and CRRC Qingdao Sifang (C-266/22, 13 March 2025) that the public buyer (the contracting authority) may admit or exclude a bidder from such a country and may decide this even during the procedure. The EU’s trade agreement with Brazil and the other members of the South American trade bloc Mercosur has applied provisionally since 1 May 2026 and covers government purchases among other subjects.
A Dutch company with real activity strengthens your position considerably. Under the EU rules on the origin of a bidder, a company takes the origin of the country where it was set up and does real business (Regulation (EU) 2022/1031, Article 3), so a Dutch private limited company (BV) with its own staff, references, VAT number and G-account bids as a company based in the EU. The EU can still exclude bidders from a given country from its tenders under the International Procurement Instrument, and such a measure follows the country of the group that controls the company. Under the EU rules on foreign subsidies, the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, a bidder must also notify the European Commission in tenders of €250 million or more when its group received €4 million or more from governments outside the EU. We set up the company and arrange its registrations, bookkeeping, VAT and payroll, and the company remains yours.
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 know-how, the equipment and the references of your group
- Decide the structure, for example a Dutch subsidiary, a holding with an operating company, or a consortium with a Dutch partner
- Choose the tenders and the consortium partners, and lead the bid
- Sign the power of attorney for the formation and the applications
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch company, by power of attorney, with the notary
- Chamber of Commerce (KVK) number, tax number, VAT number, the Dutch business login (eHerkenning) and the registration on TenderNed, the tender website of the Dutch government
- G-account application at the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) and the bank, bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts
- Payroll for the Dutch staff and the posted staff, recognition as a sponsor at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)
- One contact for the procurement lawyer, the tender writer and the notary
Licences and product rules
- Procurement lawyer for the admission question per tender, the checks under the International Procurement Instrument and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, and the consortium agreement
- Tender writer with experience in Dutch infrastructure tenders
- Certification bodies for the safety and sustainability certificates that Dutch clients ask for
- Introduction to Dutch contractors and engineering firms for consortium bids
Who is entitled to equal treatment
| Country group | Right to equal treatment | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein | Full rights under the EU procurement directives and the Dutch Public Procurement Act 2012 (Aanbestedingswet 2012): equal treatment, transparency, proportionality. | A Dutch company for the Dutch payroll, the G-account and the local contracting role. See joining a Dutch construction consortium. |
| GPA parties: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Israel, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and others | Equal treatment in the contracts the agreement covers: the entities, the sectors and the contract values in each party’s lists. | A Dutch company for the work in the Netherlands and for EU-funded programmes that ask for a company based in the EU, such as the EU loan programme for joint arms purchases (SAFE) and the EU grant programme for defence production (EDIP). |
| Countries with an EU trade agreement with a procurement chapter, such as Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Ukraine and, since 1 May 2026, the Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay | Access to the contracts named in the agreement. | A Dutch company for contracts outside the agreement and for the local roles. |
| Outside every agreement: Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China and others. China is negotiating accession to the GPA. | The contracting authority decides whether it admits the bidder and how it treats the bid (Kolin, C-652/22; CRRC Qingdao Sifang, C-266/22, paragraphs 59 and 63). It may announce its approach in the tender documents or decide during the procedure. | A Dutch company with real business in the Netherlands, which means staff, management, references, offices or yards. It is a bidder based in the EU with the full rights of the EU rules. |
| Countries with a measure under the International Procurement Instrument (IPI): China, for medical devices since 20 June 2025 | Excluded from EU tenders for medical devices of €5 million or more; the share of Chinese devices in other contracts is limited to 50%. | A Dutch company changes little here, because such a measure follows the country of the group that controls the company (Regulation (EU) 2022/1031, Article 3(1)(b)(ii)). |
The Dutch Public Procurement Act 2012 is the Dutch version of the EU directives 2014/24, 2014/25 and 2014/23 and applies to all tenders by public bodies in the Netherlands, above and below the EU thresholds. Defence and security contracts fall under the separate Dutch law on defence and security purchases (ADV), in force since 1 February 2013. See Dutch defence contracts for foreign suppliers.
The court rulings, the Commission’s guidance and TenderNed
In Kolin, decided on 22 October 2024, a Turkish contractor had bid in a Croatian railway tender. The Court of Justice ruled that a bidder from a country outside the procurement agreements lacks the right to equal treatment under Directive 2014/25 and can be excluded from the procedure, although EU law also leaves the contracting authority free to admit it.
In CRRC Qingdao Sifang, decided on 13 March 2025, a Chinese train builder had bid in a Romanian tender. The Court ruled that only the EU can adopt general rules on the access of such bidders, and that a member state may introduce its own exclusion law only with EU authorisation. In the absence of EU rules, the contracting authority itself assesses whether to admit the bidder and whether to adjust the comparison of the bids (paragraphs 59 and 63), and it may set out its approach in the tender documents (paragraph 66). Complaints are judged under national law.
The European Commission’s guidance of 21 May 2025 confirms that each contracting authority decides, case by case or under a uniform approach, whether to admit bidders from countries outside the agreements, on their own or as members of a consortium. The authority may say so in advance in the tender documents, or accept or reject such a bid at any moment during the procedure. To establish where a company comes from, the Commission points to the rules of the International Procurement Instrument, under which a company takes the origin of the country where it was set up if it does real business there, and otherwise the origin of the persons who control it.
TenderNed, the tender system of the Dutch government, is managed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and publication there is mandatory for contracts above the EU thresholds. A Dutch company logs in with the Dutch business login (eHerkenning), while a foreign company registers with a username and password and receives its activation code within one business day. Any company can register, and the public buyer decides on your bid tender by tender.
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.
How a Dutch company with real activity helps
Your Dutch BV is set up under Dutch law, and once it does real business in the Netherlands its origin is Dutch under Article 3 of the International Procurement Instrument, the rule the Commission recommends to public buyers. The regulation calls this substantive business operations, which means staff, management, offices or a yard, equipment and contracts in the Netherlands, and a company with only a registration is judged by the country of its owners.
Tenders ask for references of comparable work, which the Dutch company builds from its first project, often as a consortium partner. Rönesans Holding from Turkey bought the Dutch contractor Ballast Nedam in 2015; Ballast Nedam had revenue of €1.2 billion in 2024 and builds the Maasdeltatunnel in the Blankenburg connection. Foreign groups also win as consortium members. The province of Zuid-Holland awarded the first part of the RijnlandRoute on 30 January 2017 to the consortium Comol5 of VINCI Construction Grands Projets (France), DEME Infra Marine Contractors (Belgium), Mobilis and Croonwolter&dros (TBI, the Netherlands), a contract of €492 million with 15 years of maintenance.
The Dutch company employs its staff in the Netherlands on a Dutch payroll, has its own VAT number and opens a blocked bank account (G-account) with the permission of the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) and its bank. Clients and main contractors pay the payroll-tax part of each invoice into that account, which limits their liability for your unpaid payroll taxes, a liability that Dutch law places on every company higher up the contracting chain (chain liability). See the project company, the G-account and chain liability.
A measure under the International Procurement Instrument still follows the origin of the group, so when the persons who control your Dutch company come from a country under a measure, the measure applies to the bid. In a consortium it applies to the whole bid once that company’s share is 15% or more of the value (Article 3(2)). After the award, the winner may subcontract at most 50% of the contract value to companies from that country and buy at most 50% of the goods there, or else pay a charge of 10% to 30% of the contract value (Article 8). The only measure so far is the one against Chinese bidders for medical devices. Under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation a bidder notifies the Commission in tenders of €250 million or more (lots of €125 million or more) when its group received €4 million or more per country from governments outside the EU (foreign financial contributions) in the three preceding years, with defence contracts outside this duty.
Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. Partners charge their own prices, which you see in advance. See company formation in the Netherlands and setting up a subsidiary in Europe.
Sources
- PIANOo, Aanbestedingswet 2012 (2026), on the EU directives, the version of 1 July 2016 and the ADV since 1 February 2013.
- TenderNed, about TenderNed and registering a foreign business (2024).
- World Trade Organization, parties and observers to the GPA (2026).
- Court of Justice of the EU, Kolin, C-652/22 (22 October 2024) and CRRC Qingdao Sifang, C-266/22 (13 March 2025), on EUR-Lex.
- European Commission, questions and answers on bidders from non-covered third countries (21 May 2025).
- Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 on the International Procurement Instrument, Articles 3, 6 and 8, EUR-Lex (2022).
- European Commission, IPI measure on medical devices from China (adopted 19 June 2025).
- Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market, Article 28 and recital 41, EUR-Lex (2022).
- European Commission, EU trade relations with Mercosur (2026), the interim trade agreement provisionally applied since 1 May 2026.
- Ballast Nedam, Rönesans Holding, parent organisation of Ballast Nedam (2026), and Rönesans, news of 2 July 2025, on the acquisition in 2015 and €1.2 billion revenue in 2024.
- Province of Zuid-Holland, RijnlandRoute newsletter (31 January 2017), RijnlandRoute, the contractor Comol5, and VINCI, news of 2 March 2018, on €492 million and 15 years of maintenance.
- Tax Administration, chain liability and the G-account (2026).
Checked on 27 October 2026 against the official sources in the list of sources, as they apply in October 2026. The admission question per tender and the checks under the International Procurement Instrument and the Foreign Subsidies Regulation are the work of a procurement lawyer; we coordinate.
What we arrange beyond the company
Once your Dutch company is set up, we can help you with more. When you win a Dutch defence order, the government asks you to place part of the work with Dutch companies, and we find those companies for you. We prepare subsidy applications for your company, such as the Dutch subsidy for renewable energy and climate projects (SDE++) and the tax credit for research and development (WBSO). We help you buy a Dutch contractor or supplier, and we arrange export credit insurance and project finance with the banks.
We agree every fee with you first and link it to the result. For a project that deserves it, we join as co-founder and take a share of 5 to 10% in the project company.
Common questions
Ask about your own situation
Tell us what you build or supply, which Dutch or EU tenders you are aiming at and where your company and its owners are based, and our team will advise you on the structure that suits you.
Related guides
More guides about selling in Europe.