Far-reaching economic deregulation combined with efforts to improve the quality of social regulation have supported the construction of one of the most innovative, flexible and open economies in the OECD, while maintaining health, safety and environmental standards at relatively high levels. However, significant regulatory problems still exist. Improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of expensive social regulations and government formalities is a key challenge for regulatory quality. In a word, the challenge of regulatory reform in the United States is not how much regulation, but how good. The Dutch experience in regulatory reform has vital lessons about the modernisation of the European welfare state and its integration into the European single market.
Regulatory reform is the most recent element in the reshaping of the Dutch model.
Today, the Netherlands ranks among the top OECD countries by many measures of economic performance, including employment growth. Though still in its early phases, regulatory reform has already produced major gains for the Netherlands in terms of competitiveness, flexibility, and consumer benefits. Yet major challenges are still to be faced. Some important reforms have been slow, indicating that the balance between domestic consensus-building and policy responsiveness is still being adjusted in the modern Dutch model. Further reforms in many areas will bring important gains in boosting the employment rate, improving sectoral performance, and providing social protection at lower cost.