Overview:

• There exists no recognition system in the Netherlands; there exists no procedures of existential recognition or legal registration.

• To gain any semblance of recognition, a religious organisation may apply for tax-exempt status.

• A lack of provisions of exist both for legal registration and existential recognition in the country which may be contributing to the rise of intolerance of religious pluralism in the country.

Positive elements:

• Freedom of religion or belief is broadly upheld by the government although issues of religious freedom remain in the social fabric.

• Horizontal recognition exists in the sense that tax-exempt religious organisation are regarded in the same way regardless of their beliefs and affiliations.

Recommendations:

• To become receptive, establish a recognition system that has the capacity to bestow existential recognition and legal registration simultaneously for all belief systems and their derivatives and at different levels of activity and operation.

• To become dynamic, establish a recognition agency that manages the established recognition system and acts and makes decisions independent of the government.