Characteristics and policy instruments in the
57
the manufacturing sector. The second period ran from 2000 to 2008. Since the energy intensive manufacturing industry switched to the
Benchmarking Agreement see below at the end of the first period, the second multiyear agreements represented just 15 of manufacturing
energy consumption. The third period of multiyear agreements began in 2008.
A voluntary agreement was introduced for the energy intensive manufacturing sector in 1999: the Benchmarking Agreement. The
participants undertook to have their plants rank amongst the most energy efficient in the world by 2012 at the latest. The Benchmarking Agreement
was succeeded in 2009 by the MEE Agreement,
31
which was concluded with a large number of participants in the CO
2
emissions trading system. Unlike the Benchmarking Agreement, the MEE Agreement requires a duty
of best efforts to achieve the energy saving target and an obligation to prepare an energy efficiency plan.
Environmental Management Act The Environmental Management Act
32
requires companies to invest in energy efficient technology provided their financial situation permits.
Provinces and municipalities are responsible for implementing the Act and they can impose energy saving measures with a payback time of five
years if a company consumes a certain amount of energy.
33
This provision in the Environmental Management Act does not apply to companies
participating in the CO
2
emissions trading system VROM EZ, 1999. The Act requires companies to study energy saving opportunities.
Effective enforcement of the Act would mean that companies take all energy saving measures that pay back their costs within five years.
34
Tax schemes and grants The Energy Investment Allowance EIA was introduced in 1997 for
companies that invest in innovative energy saving measures. They can deduct part of their investment costs from taxable profit. A new list of
measures is drawn up every year with innovative techniques and equipment that qualify for the EIA. If a measure is invested in frequently
and becomes more viable, it is removed from the list so that only those
31
MEE: Multiyear Energy Efficiency Agreement for ETS companies ETS: emissions trading system.
32
Since 1 October 2010, the Environmental Law General Provisions Act has formed the legal basis for environmental permits.
33
More than 50,000 kWh of electricity or 25,000 m
3
of gas per annum.
34
As noted in section 2.3.2 of part 1 of this report, the assumption that municipalities and provinces are capable of determining a companys financial position in such detail is curious.
58
that would not be viable without the EIA are supported. The list of eligible measures is also a source of information on energy savings options.
Other tax schemes for energy savings measures are the VAMIL accelerated depreciation scheme for environmental investments and the
MIA environmental investment allowance. These tax incentives are designed to encourage investment in environmentally-friendly assets and
are similar in nature to the EIA. Since 1990 the government has used a variety of grant schemes to
encourage companies to save energy. Examples include grants for cogeneration plants, the tendering scheme for the CO
2
reduction plan and the Environmental Action Plan.
Energy tax The Netherlands introduced a tax on energy in 1996. The tax increases
the price of energy and is thus an incentive to reduce energy costs and energy consumption. The higher price of energy makes investments in
low-energy products viable more quickly. The energy tax has a regressive rate structure, i.e. smaller consumers pay the highest rate. Without the
European Commissions authorisation, Dutch energy tax may not be lower than the minimum rate laid down in the European directive on the
taxation of energy products and electricity Directive 200396EC, 2003. An exemption has been obtained for energy intensive manufacturers in
the Netherlands for electricity consumption in excess of 10,000,000 kWh in so far as the companies participate in the emissions trading system or
a voluntary agreement with a best-efforts undertaking to increase their energy efficiency. The use of feedstocks see section 2.2.2 is also
exempt from energy tax.