Notice

UK-Netherlands Innovation Partnership

Published 12 November 2025

Context

1. The UK and the Netherlands are leaders in science and technology, ranking 3rd and 5th in Europe respectively in the 2025 Global Innovation Index. The participants: Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands (EZ), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (BZ), UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) acknowledge that excellence-based international collaboration is essential for Europe to remain at the forefront of research and innovation. Such collaboration is also crucial for both countries to fully realise the benefits of emerging technologies in support of secure and resilient economic growth, including through the commercialisation and adoption of these technologies. Public-private partnerships play a key role in achieving these objectives.

2. This note confirms the intention of the UK and the Netherlands to encourage and deepen cooperation between our respective science, innovation and technology communities, through an Innovation partnership.

Scope

3. This ambitious Innovation partnership will create a platform for fostering high-impact technologies that will turbocharge economic growth and support our frontier industries. By building on a longstanding relationship and existing initiatives, such as our memorandum of understanding on quantum technologies, signed in November 2023, it will unlock transformative potential through closer collaboration.

4. The partnership will be flexible, enabling it to incorporate new and emerging technologies and fully harness the UK and the Netherlands’ shared and complementary strengths as priorities evolve. The primary mechanisms for co-operation between our respective innovation ecosystems will include, but are not limited to:

• Bilateral network development and collaboration. Supporting joint research and innovation initiatives, including through workshops, innovation missions, people exchanges and brokerage visits. To supplement existing opportunities through the EU’s Framework Programme, the participants will work with relevant stakeholders and funding agencies to encourage the development and implementation of joint funding initiatives.
  
• Commercialisation through innovation. Knowledge exchange to support the commercialisation of research and adoption of emerging and transformative technologies across the economy and internationally. Encourage stronger cross-border collaboration for research, development and innovation, especially within the start-up and scale-up sectors.
  
• Sharing best practice in innovation and technology policy. This will include joint working on international standards, governance and regulation for the safe and secure development of new and emerging technologies. It will also cover knowledge sharing on research and technology infrastructure, innovation clusters, as well as successful policies and public-private programmes and partnerships to promote innovation and skills development at international level.

Work plans

5. The Innovation partnership will be supplemented by underlying joint work plans. These work plans will detail the practical areas of cooperation and collaboration that the participants will aim to pursue through the above mechanisms. These work plans will be reviewed annually and updated by way of mutual consultation. In the first instance, the partnership will include work plans on:

• artificial intelligence and future computing technologies
• quantum technologies
• semiconductors

Governance

6. The partnership establishes a biennial dialogue (the Dialogue), co-chaired by respective governments, where the participants will meet to review and discuss past and current cooperation, address any concerns and decide future work plans. To ensure a bottom-up approach, participation in the Dialogue is open, by mutual consent, to:

• other respective government departments
• arms-length bodies
• external organisations
• private sector representatives
• lead subject matter experts

7. The Netherlands Innovation Attaché network at the Dutch Embassy in London and the Science and Technology Network at the British Embassy in The Hague will act as secretariat for the partnership, initiating actions and setting priorities involving representatives of their respective ministries, industries, relevant national bodies and research and innovation institutes as necessary and where appropriate, and ensure timely execution of the work plans.

8. The participants understand, and endorse, that initiatives under this partnership, including the work plans, can be developed and carried out by various autonomous bodies, private sector representatives and institutions in the Netherlands and the UK. This may include cooperation with other international partners where synergies exist and as approved between the participants.

Non-binding

9. This document only serves as a record for the participants’ intentions and does not constitute or create and is not intended to constitute or create any legally binding obligations. Nothing in this document is intended to alter or affect any existing agreements between the participants. Cooperation is intended to take place within the framework of applicable national legislation and international obligations. The foregoing represents the understanding reached between the participants on the matters referred to in this document.

Signed for and on behalf of the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Kanishka Narayan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for AI and Online Safety

Signed for and on behalf of the government of the Netherlands

Vincent Karremans
Minister of Economic Affairs

Paul Huijts
Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United Kingdom