Margaux Fodéré, edited by Loane Nader
modified to
8:53 a.m., April 11, 2023
Emmanuel Macron starts a two-day state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday. A country where France invests the most in the world after the United States, with more than 1,500 companies established, and not the least because Alstom, Danone and TotalEnergies are present there. But why do they choose this country rather than another?
The State visit of the President of the Republic to the Netherlands this Tuesday represents for him the opportunity to establish European economic and industrial sovereignty for the two economic partner countries. The northwestern country is also the one where France invests the most, after the United States, and has more than 1,500 companies, and not the least. Alstom, Danone and TotalEnergies are notably established there.
The attractiveness of the Port of Rotterdam
This choice is explained by the port of Rotterdam and the ease of doing business. Many French industrialists then chose to settle there, but also energy companies, attracted by the presence of gas in the country, as explained by Philippe Crevel, economist and director of the circle of savings: “The Netherlands have large gas deposits. There is also oil on the coasts. This is essentially the business of Engie and Total, for example.”
140,000 employed by the French in the Netherlands
For financial services and insurance companies, they choose the Netherlands to benefit from the very attractive taxation of the country bordering Germany. For example, when a company sets up its holding company in Amsterdam, the profits made by the subsidiaries abroad and which are transferred to it are taxed little. But this advantage is still available for a short time, as a global tax on multinationals will soon be implemented.
“Today there are 850 French financial services subsidiaries and holding companies in the Netherlands”, informs Philippe Crevel. “This attractiveness is a little less today because of the measures taken within the OECD to make a minimum tax of 15%.” In 2020, the French subsidiaries employed nearly 140,000 people in the Netherlands.