SLIM subsidy 2027: what is fixed, what is not and how to prepare now

When does the SLIM subsidy open in 2027?

That is not yet known. On its scheme page, Uitvoering van Beleid only lists the 2026 application windows. The minister sets the windows and announces them in the Staatscourant and on the website of Uitvoering van Beleid. That is laid down in Article 2.6 of the SLIM regulation. Since an amendment in March 2026, application windows and subsidy ceilings have been set separately, without the regulation itself having to change. The explanatory notes to that amendment refer to three application windows per year, each with its own ceiling. Whether that will remain the case in 2027 is not known.

Some websites already list dates for 2027. On 8 October 2026 we found no source for them in the Staatscourant or from Uitvoering van Beleid. Treat such dates as an expectation, not as a fact. The year 2026 showed that things can still shift even after an official announcement. In March, the Staatscourant gave 10 August as the start of the second SME window. In July, Uitvoering van Beleid announced that the window would open on 19 August. The window for partnerships, too, was first listed in the Staatscourant as 8 June to 6 July inclusive, and in the end ran from 22 June to 20 July.

For reference, without implying anything about 2027: in 2026 there were two application windows for individual SMEs, from 7 April to 4 May and from 19 August to 7 September. Partnerships could apply from 22 June to 20 July.

What is already fixed for 2027?

The rules themselves are laid down in the SLIM regulation. It has been extended until 31 December 2029 inclusive and expires on 1 January 2030. For an individual SME, this comes down to the following:

• Subsidy: 60 percent of the eligible costs for the company review that results in a training or development plan (activity A) and for developing or introducing a learning and development method (activity C).
• Career or development advice (activity B) carries a fixed amount of €700 per completed advice track.
• Maximum: the regulation refers to subsidy of up to €25,000. Uitvoering van Beleid applies a maximum of €24,999. For agricultural businesses the maximum is €20,000.
• Minimum: for activities A and C, the eligible costs must be at least €5,000.
• Duration: the project is to be completed within twelve months. Costs only count from the day after the decision to grant the subsidy.
• In each application window, one application per applicant is processed.

How much money is available in 2027?

For each application window, that is not yet known. The minister sets a separate subsidy ceiling for each window. The 2027 SZW budget does give an indication, however. It was submitted to the Tweede Kamer (Dutch House of Representatives) on 15 September 2026. The section on SLIM for SMEs and partnerships states that €79.2 million is available for the scheme in 2027, and around €39 million on a structural basis. The SLIM-scholingssubsidie (SLIM training subsidy), a separate scheme, is listed separately at €31 million. The €79.2 million is a budget amount, not a ceiling per window. The budget does not say how much of it will become available in which window.

For partnerships, the amounts differ from those for an individual company: a maximum of €500,000 per application, less than €200,000 per party, at least €210,000 in eligible costs and a maximum duration of 24 months. Uitvoering van Beleid also mentions a minimum subsidy amount of €125,000. The project must at least include developing or introducing a learning and development method. Within a partnership, lower maximums per party apply to agricultural businesses (€20,000) and to companies in road freight transport (€100,000).

Mind the SME threshold. Under the regulation, a medium-sized enterprise has fewer than 250 persons employed and an annual turnover of no more than €50 million or a balance sheet total of no more than €43 million. A company above those limits falls outside the individual SME route.

What happened in the 2026 rounds?

According to Uitvoering van Beleid, all three application windows of 2026 were heavily oversubscribed. In each window, a lottery under notarial supervision therefore determined the order in which the applications are processed.

• Window 1 for SMEs (April and May): ceiling €11 million. The first 474 applications drawn will in any case be assessed.
• Partnerships (June and July): ceiling €6 million. The first 17 applications drawn will in any case be assessed.
• Window 2 for SMEs (August and September): ceiling €6 million. The first 257 applications drawn will in any case be assessed.

What does the lottery mean for your application?

Whenever budget remains after assessment, the next application on the lottery list is taken up. The announcements from Uitvoering van Beleid do not state how many applications were received in total. What is clear is that a place on the list is not an award. Even an application drawn high on the list is still assessed on its merits.

Three lottery rules are useful to know for 2027. When you submit within the window makes no difference, because the lottery only takes place after the window has closed. If you submit two applications under the same KvK number (Dutch Chamber of Commerce registration number), only the one submitted first is included in the lottery. And an incomplete application moves to the back of the list once it has been completed. Under the regulation, the decision is made within 13 weeks of the window closing.

The lesson is a sober one. You cannot influence the lottery, but you can influence the completeness and quality of your application. So do not let the decision about your learning track depend on the subsidy.

What can you put in place now, and what should you not do yet?

One rule determines the order: eligible costs only count from the day after the decision to grant the subsidy. If you carry out the company review or the training plan now, you cannot claim those costs later. Preparing therefore means getting the application ready, not carrying out the project in advance. If you do not want to wait, starting without a subsidy is also a fully valid choice.

What you can put in place now:

• eHerkenning (the Dutch electronic login for businesses) at level 3. Since 5 January 2026, Uitvoering van Beleid has had a new subsidy portal alongside the existing one, and that new portal requires eHerkenning at level 3. The agency states for each scheme or window which login applies. Level 3 was required for the 2026 SLIM window for partnerships. For the 2027 SME windows, this has not yet been published. According to Uitvoering van Beleid, obtaining eHerkenning takes a few working days and sometimes one to two weeks.
• The authorised signatory. The application form is signed by someone who is authorised to act on behalf of the company. If you have an adviser or colleague submit the application, a written authorisation is needed. There is a standard form for this.
• Your de minimis overview. The application includes a de minimis declaration, in which you state the de minimis aid received over the past three years. According to RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency), the maximum over three years is €300,000 in most sectors and €50,000 in agriculture. If your company is part of a group, that maximum applies to the group as a whole.
• The SME test. The application includes an SME declaration. Check in advance whether your company, based on the most recently closed financial year, stays below the threshold of 250 persons employed and the turnover or balance sheet threshold.
• An ongoing SLIM subsidy. If you have already been granted a subsidy for a company review or a learning and development method and it has not yet been finally settled, a new application for such an activity will be refused. If you are waiting for a decision on 2026, take this into account.
• A draft activity plan and budget, using the mandatory templates of Uitvoering van Beleid. A quote from whoever will deliver the track helps to substantiate the budget.

How do you describe a training track so that it fits the scheme?

SLIM does not pay for the training, but for setting up learning and development. Training costs and wage costs for working time lost to training are explicitly on the list of ineligible costs. A project description for a training track therefore usually revolves around two activities: the company review that leads to a training or development plan, and the method by which learning then becomes a fixed part of the work.

The regulation states fairly precisely on what grounds an application can be rejected. That yields a useful checklist for your description:

• Tailored to your company. The costs of a company review that does not match the training needs of your own business clearly enough are not eligible. The same applies to a method that is not tailored to your company.
• Measurable. Describe the result that will be in place at the end, for example a training plan for each job group and a documented learning method.
• Feasible. Make a plausible case that the approach can be carried out within twelve months, with a schedule that fits the staffing of your departments.
• With an evaluation plan. Record in advance how you will assess afterwards whether the initiative has worked.
• Necessary. Make a plausible case that the subsidy is needed to carry out the initiative.

What does such a description look like, and what may go in the budget?

An illustration, not an example from our client work. A food producer has an assessment carried out of the AI knowledge that the quality department and the planning team need, and records this in a training plan for each role. The company then introduces a learning and development method, for example periodic development reviews and regular learning slots in team meetings. The working agreements that result are incorporated into the procedures of the quality system the company already maintains under HACCP or FSSC 22000. The company budgets the training days themselves as its own investment.

Fixed rules apply to the budget. External costs only count with an invoice. For an external adviser, the eligible hourly rate is at most €135 excluding VAT. Hours worked on the project by your own employees count as direct wage costs: gross pay plus a mark-up of 32 percent, in proportion to the hours worked. A 15 percent supplement for other costs is added on top of the external costs and the wage costs. VAT is not eligible. If you want to make full use of the maximum subsidy, at 60 percent you arrive at about €41,665 in eligible costs.

Does AI training fit within SLIM?

Partly, and the distinction matters. The training days themselves are training costs and therefore not eligible. The plan around them can be: which roles work with AI, what level of knowledge each role needs and how the learning then carries over into the work. Our article on SLIM and AI training sets out that dividing line in the budget in more detail.

One point deserves attention. The regulation also excludes costs arising from legally required tasks. In Article 4, the AI Act asks organisations that deploy AI to take measures for the AI literacy of their staff. We do not know whether Uitvoering van Beleid regards a training plan that results from this as such a legally required task. We found no publication on it. So describe the plan in terms of the development needs of your company and your employees, and raise any doubts with Uitvoering van Beleid in advance.

How do you choose a partner for the plan and the track?

For activities A and C, the regulation sets no qualification requirements for the adviser. For career and development advice (activity B), it does: a completed people-oriented or organisation-oriented degree programme at hbo level (Dutch higher professional education) or above, or another hbo programme with additional people-oriented or organisation-oriented courses, at least three years of relevant work experience and a statement that the adviser adheres to the code of conduct. Registration with Noloc (the Dutch professional association for career professionals) as a Register Loopbaanprofessional (registered career professional) counts as proof of both the qualification and the code of conduct. A few questions help with the choice:

• Does the quote separate what is eligible (company review, plan, method) from what is not (the training itself)? A quote that mixes these up will cost you work later when you account for the subsidy.
• Does the hourly rate stay within the maximum of €135 excluding VAT, or do you know which part you will bear yourself?
• Does the provider have management or financial ties with your company? In that case, under the regulation, only direct wage costs are eligible.
• Is anyone promising you an award? No one can. The order is determined by lottery and the assessment lies with Uitvoering van Beleid.
• Does the plan also work if the subsidy does not come through? Then your team's development does not depend on a lottery.

Timeline to the first application window of 2027

As long as the dates are missing, a relative schedule works best. If you first want to know which work process is the best first candidate for an AI learning track, you can explore that in a few minutes with the Practice Scan.

• From now until the end of 2026: decide which work process and which roles the track affects, obtain eHerkenning level 3, prepare your de minimis overview and request a quote.
• As soon as windows and ceilings are published in the Staatscourant: check the conditions and the templates on the Uitvoering van Beleid website. Templates may be updated to a new version.
• From two weeks before opening: register your organisation as an applicant in the subsidy portal. Within five working days you will see whether the registration is complete.
• During the window: submit a complete application. Early or late makes no difference; complete does.
• After closing: lottery and assessment, with a decision within 13 weeks under the regulation.
• After a positive decision: the project starts and runs for a maximum of twelve months. If you are not drawn in the lottery or your application is rejected, your plan is still there. You can then carry it out without a subsidy, or check whether your sector's O&O fund (training and development fund) contributes.