The Netherlands does well with its economy but in terms of competition and innovation only gets an average score in Europe, a report published today suggests.

The Netherlands continues to invest more than average in the development of its knowledge-based economy, the report by TNO shows. But the number of people working in innovation-linked jobs has the past years fallen below the EU average. The number of vacancies in exact sciences and technology in particular has been dropping. And few students, women especially, chose a science career.

If the Netherlands wants to keep up with leading countries such as China and Germany, both the government and the private sector, TNO says, must do more to make companies bigger so innovation departments remain financially viable. In some cases this means Dutch companies will have to be taken over by foreign multinationals.
 
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