ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the basic policy approach that has been chosen for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the Netherlands. It focuses on the way in which environmental policy in the Netherlands is implemented. Special attention is given to the target-group policy. The chapter also focuses on the stimulation of environmental management in SMEs. Adopting environmental values and environmental management systems are thought to be important steps in the transformation process. Dutch environmental policy is created through a process of close co-operation between government, the business community, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. The basis for environmental policy in the Netherlands was laid in the early 1970s. The cornerstone of current Dutch environmental policy is the National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP) which was first published in 1989 and subsequently at four-year intervals. A fundamental principle underlying the NEPP is that responsibility for reaching the environmental targets lies primarily with the target group itself.
