There are two official languages in the European part of The Netherlands: Dutch and Frisian. In the Caribbean parts of the Netherlands, Dutch, Papiamentu and English are official languages.
Dutch
The Dutch language is principally spoken in the Netherlands, Flanders and Suriname. The Dutch language policy is managed by the Committee of Ministers (Comité van Ministers), comprising the Dutch and Flemish culture and education ministers and a representative from Suriname. The Interparliamentary Committee (Interparlementaire Commissie) monitors the policy while the Dutch Language and Literature Council (Raad voor de Nederlandse Taal en Letteren) advises policymakers. Dutch language policy is developed and implemented by the Dutch Language Union (Nederlandse Taalunie), founded by the Dutch and Flemish governments. To emphasise their mutual cultural interests, a cultural treaty was signed in 1995. In 2004, the Flemish-Dutch House (Vlaams-Nederlands Huis deBuren) opened in Brussels to promote Flemish-Dutch culture in Europe.
Suriname joined the Dutch Language Union as an associate member in 2004. The union also cooperates with the Caribbean islands that have Dutch as an official language: Aruba, Curaçao, Saint Martin (countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Bonaire, Saint-Eustache and Saba (municipalities within the Kingdom of the Netherlands).
In 1996, the Flemish and a Dutch public broadcasters founded the channel the Best of Flanders and the Netherlands (BVN).
Starting from 1 January 2024 the Act on the Investment Obligation for (Dutch) Audiovisual Content takes effect for big (international) streaming platforms (see chapter 4.2.6).
Frisian
The Frisian language is recognised as the second official language in the province of Fryslân, both in Dutch law and through the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages. The province of Fryslân and the central government made agreements on the development of the Frisian language and culture: Bestjoersôfspraak Fryske Taal en Kultuer 2024–2028, (Administrative Agreement on Frisian Language and Culture- in Dutch and Frisian). The Fryske Akademy, a research institute to the Frisian language, determines the spelling in the Frisian language and preserves the cultural and literary value of the language-related Frisian heritage.
Other languages
The Netherlands has recognised Limburgish (since 1997), Low Saxon (since 1996), Romani/Sinti and Yiddish (since 1996) as regional or non-territorial languages under the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages. This recognition enables provinces and municipalities to create policies for these languages. The Limburgish and Low Saxon languages are recently recognized as official regional languages. The government has made objectives in collaboration with the representatives of the Limburgish and Low Saxon language by means of covenants.
Language Policy in the Caribbean Parts of the Kingdom
Within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Papiamentu (on Bonaire, Aruba, and Curaçao) and English (on Sint Eustatius and Saba) hold official status alongside Dutch. as languages in administration, education, and the courts. The Dutch government co-finances bilingual education programmes, teacher training and cultural and heritage projects that promote local language use.
Support of the libraries on the islands is included in the Culture Covenant 2022 – 2025, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science – Public Entities of the Caribbean Netherlands.
These measures ensure that local languages are safeguarded, taught, and promoted, while Dutch remains the shared administrative and legal language within the Kingdom.
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