Businesses also feel ignored by the government

It’s a striking contradiction: while an advisory report from The Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli) is summarised in an FD article (16 May 2025) with the conclusion that the government “listens too much to businesses and too little to citizens,” voices from the business community often express the exact opposite sentiment. Namely, that “the government hardly listens to businesses.” The reality is that both citizens and companies feel overlooked in policymaking. This does not point to a bias in favour of one party, but to a structural issue in the interaction between government, businesses, and communities.

The Rli report “Falen en opstaan” (“Failing and Rising”) shows that complex environmental and spatial challenges such as the housing shortage, nitrogen crisis, and CO₂ emissions have been deadlocked for decades. One of the root causes: a dysfunctional interplay between government, businesses, and citizens. The suggestion that the government consistently yields to (large) corporate interests ignores the frequent reality that businesses run into a wall of misunderstanding, lack of insight into entrepreneurship, and bureaucracy.

Business sidelined

Take housing development. While the current cabinet aims to realise 100,000 new homes per year, progress is blocked by strict nitrogen regulations, slow permitting procedures, and a lack of coordination. For years, developers, construction companies, and housing associations have been sounding the alarm. The criticism is not that the government “listens too much,” but that it fails to make integrated assessments balancing environmental quality, economic viability, and societal urgency. The area-based nitrogen approach initially seemed to foster real cooperation, but was shelved again with the scrapping of the transition fund.

We see a similar dynamic in the energy sector. Companies leading in sustainable technologies such as heat pump manufacturers or innovative grid operators face outdated regulations, long wait times for grid connections, and a lack of policy frameworks. Meanwhile, polluting sectors continue to benefit from the status quo, protected by vague rules and slow decision-making. In doing so, the government misses the opportunity to empower sustainable frontrunners. This is precisely one of the Rli’s key recommendations: enable companies to drive future-proof development.

The real issue: a lack of dialogue

Neither citizens nor companies are asking for more power, but for greater involvement and transparency. The Rli rightly identifies the lack of a shared dialogue on values as the core problem. There is too little space to collectively weigh which values should take precedence: economic growth, biodiversity, affordable housing, or landscape preservation. Instead of open conversations, there are parallel tracks of policymakers, interest groups, and local initiatives that barely intersect.

This is why the call for more forums for dialogue is justified. These should bring together government, business, and communities. The now-defunct product boards (“productschappen”) are a good example of such constructive consultative structures, ones that should be revitalised. Not to cater to business interests, but to create better-informed, balanced policies that take economic, social and ecological interests seriously.

Towards equal partnership

The claim that businesses hold ‘too much influence’ is inaccurate, oversimplified and often untrue. It also fuels polarisation. While many companies have access to political processes through lobbying, that does not mean their input is translated into policy – especially when it comes to sustainability. In fact, small and medium-sized enterprises often lack any platform to contribute their ideas, even though these are often the businesses that can help drive necessary change.

The government must acknowledge that effective policymaking requires an open and ongoing collaboration, where every party contributes from its own logic – political, economic or social – to addressing the major challenges of our time. The failure described in the Rli report is, above all, a failure of connection, of listening, of working together. The first step towards progress is to restore meaningful dialogue – not about, but with companies and citizens.