Today at COP30 the Dutch government presented their “Fossil Fuel Subsidy Phase-Out Plan”. Reading the document the conclusion is inevitable that this cannot be regarded as a genuine phase-out plan. As confirmed in the accompanying decision memorandum, the document introduces no new policies or measures and merely provides an overview of the current situation.
While the government’s classification of subsidies into categories—those under national competence, those constrained by international or EU rules, and those without a phase-out trajectory—adds some transparency, the plan falls short of what a solid phase-out plan should look like.
By refusing to introduce new measures or timelines, the government misses a clear opportunity to strengthen its leadership within the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS) and to influence European discussions on the upcoming framework for a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies in the EU. This lack of ambition is all the more disappointing given that the issue has not been declared politically controversial and that viable options are already available, as detailed in the Ministry of Finance’s 2024 report “Building Blocks for a Better Tax System.”
“The government has chosen to present a list instead of a plan,” said Paolo Destilo of the COFFIS Observatory. “This is a step forward for transparency, but we expect more from the COFFIS chair.”
The few measures mentioned, such as the planned abolition of the coal tax exemption for dual and non-energy use by 2027, a small increase in the natural gas energy tax, and a gradual reduction of preferential treatment in greenhouse horticulture, remain marginal in scope and impact. Major exemptions and preferential treatments persist across sectors including shipping, and refinaries. In many cases, the government explicitly chooses to maintain outdated international arrangements such as the Mannheim Act (1868) and the Gas Oil Protocol (1952), instead of initiating reform. Similarly, justifications for a lack of phase-out plan for certain subsidies are shaky at best, as exemplified by the continuation of Investment deduction for exploration and extraction of natural gas from small fields in the North Sea, claiming that gas extraction in the North Sea has a net positive effect on emissions compared to the situation where gas is imported from Russia or the United States. This, among other things, goes counter to the International Energy Agency’s assessment that no new oil and gas fields must be approved for a Paris Agreement-aligned pathway.
Notably, there is also a severe lack of discussion of any communication and stakeholders engagement plans, social compensatory measures, any indication on how the freed fiscal space is going to be used, and monitoring and evaluation measures.
“The Netherlands has long positioned itself as a frontrunner on fossil fuel subsidy reform. We hope that Rob Jetten, who launched the COFFIS coalition in 2023 and is now poised for Dutch premiership, will give new energy to the initiative by presenting a more credible phase-out plan.” concluded Destilo.
