DOING BUSINESS in the NETHERLANDS 2020-2021 Doing Business in the Netherlands
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DOING BUSINESS IN THE NETHERLANDS 2020-2021 Doing Business in The Netherlands Editorial Contributions Andre Walter Merel Roest Anna van Bracht Michiel Bijloo Anne-Carien Smale Michiel Kloes Aukje Strik Mirko Marinć Christiaan van der Meer Narine Movsisian Corinne Schot Nathalja Doing Danielle Pinedo Niels Matze Denise Ozmis Pauline Bakker Derk Christiaans Ralph Potgieter Don-Tobias Jol Rebecca Kuijpers-Zimmerman Fedor Tanke Remke Scheepstra Fons Ravelli Richte van Ginneken Frank Kroes Robert van Agteren Frederik Harms Roderick Beudeker Gillis Kempe Roger van de Berg Ilya Hoekerd Steffen Hagen Itse Oosterhoff Troy Pickard-Taylor Ischa Gobius du Sart Wibren Veldhuizen Jan Snel Wouter Seinen Jan Willem Gerritsen Yassine el Bojaddaini John Paans Lin Yuen Maarten Hoelen Margreet Nijhof Baker McKenzie i Doing Business in The Netherlands Table of Contents The Netherlands................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Country and cities .............................................................................. 12 1.2 Infrastructure, traffic and transport ............................................ 15 1.3 Government ........................................................................................... 17 1.4 Economy ................................................................................................ 18 1.5 Dutch people and culture ................................................................ 19 Legal Forms of Doing Business ..................................................................... 27 2.1 Branch .................................................................................................... 28 2.2 Subsidiary ............................................................................................. 29 2.3 Branch versus subsidiary ................................................................ 30 2.4 Cooperative (Coöperatie)................................................................. 31 2.5 European company / Societas Europaea (SE) .......................... 32 2.6 Societas Cooperativa Europaea (SCE) ......................................... 33 2.7 Partnership ............................................................................................ 33 2.8 Formal foreign companies ............................................................. 34 Tax Benefits of Regional Headquarters/ Coordination Centres ....... 35 3.1 General advantages ...........................................................................36 3.2 Tax ruling ............................................................................................... 37 3.3 Holding of shares ...............................................................................39 3.4 Group financing and group licensing......................................... 40 3.5 Anti-abuse provisions ...................................................................... 43 The Subsidiary ..................................................................................................... 45 4.1 Incorporation of N.V. and B.V. ...................................................... 46 4.2 Incorporation of a cooperative ..................................................... 47 4.3 Capitalization ....................................................................................... 47 4.4 Transfer of shares and membership interest .......................... 48 4.5 Shareholders' register and members' register ....................... 49 4.6 Issuance of new shares ................................................................... 49 4.7 Board of managing directors ........................................................ 50 Baker McKenzie i 4.8 Board of supervisory directors ...................................................... 51 4.9 Proxy holders ....................................................................................... 51 4.10 Large companies regime .................................................................. 51 4.11 One-Tier Board .................................................................................... 52 4.12 Developments ...................................................................................... 53 Reporting, Auditing and Publication Requirements ............................. 55 5.1 Financial statements ........................................................................ 56 5.2 Director's report .................................................................................. 57 5.3 Accounting principles ....................................................................... 58 5.4 Other information ............................................................................. 58 5.5 Language .............................................................................................. 59 5.6 Currency ................................................................................................ 59 5.7 Classification ........................................................................................ 59 5.8 Exemption for group companies ................................................. 60 5.9 Consolidated accounts ..................................................................... 61 5.10 Auditing requirements ..................................................................... 62 Corporate Governance Code .......................................................................... 65 6.1 Long-term value creation................................................................ 67 6.2 Effective management and supervision ................................... 69 6.3 Remuneration ....................................................................................... 73 6.4 The general meeting ......................................................................... 75 6.5 One-tier governance structure ..................................................... 76 6.6 Compliance with and enforcement of the Code .................... 77 Sales Support, Distribution and Production ............................................. 79 7.1 Liaison office ....................................................................................... 80 7.2 Sales support ....................................................................................... 80 7.3 Production ............................................................................................. 81 Commercial Contracts ......................................................................................83 8.1 General Dutch contract law .......................................................... 84 8.2 General terms and conditions ....................................................... 85 8.3 Consumer protection/Consumer sales ...................................... 86 ii Baker McKenzie Doing Business in The Netherlands 8.4 Consumer authority ........................................................................... 87 8.5 Agency agreements .......................................................................... 88 8.6 Distribution agreements ................................................................. 89 8.7 Franchise agreements ...................................................................... 90 Real Estate ............................................................................................................ 93 9.1 Ownership ............................................................................................ 94 9.2 Land Register ...................................................................................... 94 9.3 Other rights and obligations ......................................................... 95 9.4 Construction and renovation ........................................................ 96 9.5 Environmental aspects and soil pollution ................................. 97 9.6 Leases ..................................................................................................... 98 9.7 Public housing ................................................................................... 100 Competition Rules and Free Movement of Goods.............................. 101 10.1 EU competition rules ....................................................................... 102 10.2 Dutch Competition Act ................................................................. 104 10.3 Public procurement rules .............................................................. 109 10.4 Import and export: free movement of goods ........................ 113 10.5 The European Economic Area .......................................................114 10.6 Standardization ..................................................................................114 Intellectual Property......................................................................................... 117 11.1 Copyright ............................................................................................. 118 11.2 Neighboring rights ........................................................................... 120 11.3 Protection of databases ................................................................. 120 11.4 Trademarks .......................................................................................... 121 11.5 Designs and models......................................................................... 126 11.6 Trade names ....................................................................................... 127 11.7 Patents .................................................................................................