In pursuing its energy policy targets, namely energy security, environmental protection and economic efficiency, the Netherlands has shown great pragmatism, giving due attention to cost-effectiveness. The country is also to be commended for its sense of innovation, notably in creating and testing methodologies for the use of Kyoto flexible mechanisms, launching a sustainable energy initiative and for developing new analytical methods for energy security.

While the Netherlands' large domestic natural gas reserves have made a substantial contribution to security of supply, the gradual depletion of the Groningen field, declining small field production and market liberalisation make it necessary to conduct a review of upstream gas policy.

Competition has developed relatively well in the Dutch electricity and gas markets. To fully capture the benefits of market liberalisation however, many issues need to be addressed. They include increasing electricity and gas interconnection capacity and ensuring their fair allocation, as well as guaranteeing access to flexibility, short-term balancing and quality conversion facilities in the gas sector. Consumers need to be informed about the advantages of market opening, ways to access the market, possible risks and ways to protect against them.

While the Dutch government's analysis shows that the country is on track to meet the Kyoto target, with greenhouse gas emissions having almost stabilised, some challenges still lie ahead. Curbing the rapid growth of energy demand in the transport sector will require strong new policies and measures.