In the Netherlands, there are a huge amount of rules and regulations to which almost everything should comply. Not only on national level, but also local and European. Next to the rules and regulations by law (deontic) there are the more moral 'rules' (normative). In this chapter, first the rules and regulations are split up in orders of magnitude: from European to local. Next moral rules -if applicable- are discussed.
Rules and regulations by law
In the EU there are European, national and local laws. In rule European laws overrule national, which overrule local laws and rules. So let's start with applicable European rules and regulations. These are recorded in regulations (binding in its elements and directly on each member), guidelines (binding as to the result for each member), resolutions (binding in its elements, on specified members) and recommendations and advise (non-binding). Some European laws are already integrated with national laws, since European laws overrule national laws.
European rules and regulations
Applicable European laws are mainly regarding the state aid and public tender. Since the center of innovation will most likely receive some kind of aid from the government and it's construction will be commissioned by the government these rules apply.
1. Public tender (guideline)
If a government (local/central) does a large investment (procurement) it is usually required to make a public tender. There are some exceptions, however, these do not apply here. Regarding the threshold, procurement must be done from €5.000.000,- for work contracts [1]. When this applies the procedure should be transparent and non-discriminatory. This will most probably apply to the Center of Innovation.
2. State aid (regulation)
When applying for state aid, there are also some regulations. Applicable rules are to be found in article 107 section 1 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) [2]. This is to make the aid compatible with the internal market and not affect trade between members.
In this there are some exceptions (article 107 section 3 TFEU). Also there are subsidy regulations which have to be examined by The Commission. One of these regulations is the "Subsidieverordening Waddenfonds" [3]. If the monetary expenses are within the border of this regulation and the goal is in line, there is no need to make a notification of the state aid at The Commission.
National rules and regulations
Within the Netherlands there are some more specific rules applicable. These involve construction laws, laws for hospitality industry, safety laws etc. For convenience the leisure and center of innovation are split.
Besides the specific applicable rules, the Wadden is also a national park, listed in the UNESCO heritage. [4]
1. Sustainable leisure
For the (minor) changes of the hospitality industry, there are some laws. The most important one is the Drank- en HorecaWet (rules regarding beverages, catering and such) [5]. This is quite a extensive collection of rules which these businesses have to comply with. Changing something in current restaurants of bars etc. will always have to be checked not to conflict these regulations.
There are also extra rules for the buildings in which restaurants/bars/disco's are. These can be found at "ondernemersplein", specially for entrepreneurs [6].
2. Center of Innovation
Since for the Center of Innovation a completely new building is almost certainly required, there are certain national rules to comply with. For example the building should comply with the construction regulations [7]. These include rules about safety, energy performance, environment etc.
Local rules and regulations
Finally there are some local rules and regulations. These include local policies [8], local protected areas regarding flora and fauna [9] and and local rules for bars and restaurants. Also the national regulations are enforced by the municipality.
Moral rules
Besides the deontic laws, there are also the normative moral rules to keep in mind. although there are no legal consequences when 'breaking' guidelines like this. Breaking them would most likely affect the relationship with the people on Texel in a negative way.Staying within the limits of the law doesn't automatically mean that it complies with moral rules.
Moral rules involve aspects like (good) employment, relationship with Texel(aars), respect etc. In each decision one should consider if there are any moral implications involved.
While stated rules and regulations are mostly objective statements, what does this mean for the project? Well, first of all one should consider what is possible and especially not possible in legal aspect. If something is implicitly not allowed, there is no point in continuing with that idea. For the four initiatives, there are no regulations obstructing the realization of the ideas. Complications may arise within the municipality regarding public tender and state aid, but this is just something to take into account.
There is, however, policy and zoning of the municipality. If these do not allow certain changes it will become a longer process to realize the ideas, if it even will be possible. For Texel, this will not be a direct problem, since the municipality has sustainability in high regard in their policy. This will also be the focus, since if new initiatives are in line with the policy and zoning, it has a high chance of government subsidies.
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/index_en.htm
[2] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT
[3] http://www.waddenfonds.nl/Home.2702.0.html
[4] Beleidsnota natuur en landschap op Texel, beleidsinventarisatie november 2003
[5] http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002458/geldigheidsdatum_06-12-2014
[6] http://www.ondernemersplein.nl/
[7] http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bouwregelgeving/bouwvoorschriften
[8] http://www.texel.nl/de-gemeente/beleid_41829/
[9] http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=1181
