Alstom, Danone, TotalEnergies... Why is the Netherlands so attractive to French companies?

Margaux Fodéré, edited by Loane Nader 07h36, April 11, 2023, modified at 07h36, April 11, 2023

The State visit of the President of the Republic to the Netherlands on 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 the France invests the most and has more than 1,500 companies, and not the least. Alstom, Danone and TotalEnergies are located 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 choose to settle there, but also energy companies, attracted by the presence of gas in the country, as Philippe Crevel, economist and director of the savings circle, explains: "The Netherlands has significant gas deposits. There is also oil on the coast. This is essentially the business of Engie and Total, for example."

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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 transferred to it are taxed lowly. But this benefit is still available for a short time, as a global tax on multinationals will soon be implemented.

"There are now 850 French financial services subsidiaries and holding companies in the Netherlands," says Philippe Crevel. "This attractiveness is a little less today because of the measures taken within the OECD to make a minimum tax at 15%." In 2020, French subsidiaries employed nearly 140,000 people in the Netherlands.