The cabinet is making 500 million euros available for the Dutch business community to cushion the blow of the British departure from the European Union – the Brexit. EUR 200 million of the money made available will go to fishing for, among other things, a restructuring scheme for certain vessels.
The 500 million euros comes from Brussels and is part of the so-called ‘Brexit Adjustment Reserve’, a pot of European money that is distributed among member states to absorb the Brexit blow. Countries hardest hit by Britain’s departure will receive the largest sum of money. A total of 886 million euros has been made available for the Netherlands. Only for Ireland, there was more money in the European pot.
Of the half-billion, 200 million euros is reserved for fishing. The majority of this will go towards a restructuring scheme for fishing boats that have fallen out of favor due to the changed fishing opportunities. In addition, a still scheme is being set up and fishermen can receive compensation for lost income in the first quarter of 2021.
268 of the other 300 million euros goes to compensation for the costs of, for example, information campaigns, customs-related training, ICT and consultancy costs, and temporary hiring of extra transport equipment. The remaining 32 million euros will go to support entrepreneurs who want to discover new markets.
