Decrease of revenues in lowlands from national gas fields

Description:

The tax income of the Dutch government is dervied from three main sources i.e. taxes from corporate profits, taxes from private income payments and taxes from natural gas incomes. The last driver is the income from natural gas export: its impact on the budget of the Dutch government has been calculated to comprise of c. EURO 4 billion on a total budget of c. EURO 130 billion (2005). Overall, the impact of the national gas field on the Dutch economy is thus calculatedto amount to c. 3% of the government´s budget as well as c. 3% of total GDP. Governments tendency in recent years has been to increase gas output by on average 10% per year.
Scientific estimates mention that by 2020, the exploitation of the Slochteren gas field will be mostly finalized while it will be totally depleted in 2040 (TNO-NITG).

Enablers:

• finding new energy sources, e.g. by approving legislation for exploitation activities in ecological sensitive areas like Waddenzee
  
• development of new technologies that enable exploitation of difficult energy sources

Inhibitors:

o The evolution of the current parliamentary democracy. Will the Dutch parliament be able to let loose, or will it intervene as it does now.
o The convergence of European health care market systems. Will the EU formulate a policy on health care market systems? So far, the EU has only intervened in food security, labor market and border crossing health care consumption.

Paradigms:

The fundamental shift in thinking is the transformation from a regulated system, like in most other European countries to a much more market oriented system in which government has much less control and market forces will drive development.

Experts:

Ministry of health (www.minvws.nl), College Bouw (www.cbz.nl), ZAio (www.ctg-zaio.nl)

Timing:

Start new insurance system (zorgverzekeringswet) 1-1-2006
Start new hospital financing system (DBC’s) 1-1-2005, finish 1-1-2008
Start liberalization construction of hospitals (WTZi) 1-1-2006, finish 2012

Web Resources:

www.minvwsnl
www.zorgaanzet.nl
www.cbz.nl
www.ctg-zaio.nl