Belgian ambulances would be able to use Dutch emergency departments
Health minister Hermans says a change to a Benelux decision, due in 2026, will let Belgian ambulances take emergency patients to hospitals in the Netherlands, easing a problem in border regions.
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Illustrative photo: Nathan Kramer / CC BY-SA 4.0
Belgian ambulances will be allowed to bring patients to Dutch emergency departments once an amended Benelux decision is finished, health minister Hermans told the Tweede Kamer in answers to parliamentary questions. The change is in its final phase and will be completed in 2026 under the Dutch Benelux presidency, she said.
At present a Belgian ambulance cannot take a patient to a Dutch emergency department. The one exception is Maastricht UMC+, the only hospital on the Belgian '100-list' of hospitals that Belgian ambulances may drive to.
Under the amended decision, recognition through that list is no longer needed. The control room (meldkamer) decides, in consultation with the hospital, which hospital suits the patient best, whichever country it is in.
The municipality of Woensdrecht raised the bottleneck with the Schakelpunt Grensbelemmeringen Vlaanderen – Nederland, the Flanders–Netherlands contact point for border obstacles. In July 2025 it proposed amending an existing Benelux decision. The Commissaris van de Koning (King's Commissioner) in Zeeland, the Dutch border coordinator, advised the cabinet to develop the idea, and talks within the Benelux Union have since begun.
Dutch ambulances can already take patients to Belgian emergency departments, and that does not change. The other powers and responsibilities of Dutch and Belgian ambulance services and control rooms also stay as they are, the minister said.
Source: Tweede Kamer
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100-lijst
The Belgian 100-list is the official list of hospitals that Belgian ambulances are allowed to drive patients to. Ambulance transport across the border is governed by Belgian rules, so a hospital that is not on the list generally cannot be reached by a Belgian ambulance for patient transport. Because the list is set on the Belgian side, it determines which Dutch hospitals Belgian ambulance crews can use in cross-border emergencies.
Schakelpunt Grensbelemmeringen Vlaanderen – Nederland
The Schakelpunt Grensbelemmeringen Vlaanderen – Nederland is the contact point between Flanders and the Netherlands for obstacles that people and organisations face when crossing the border between the two regions. It receives reports of such cross-border obstacles and works with the relevant authorities on both sides to find solutions. Its role is to bring practical border problems, such as differences in rules or procedures, to the attention of the competent bodies.