Property Meeting the Challenge of the Commons in The Netherlands

In different branches of the Dutch legal system, there are categories and rights that serve to protect specific commons through different methods. Sunlight and air (including wind for windmills) can be freely used by everyone. Waters in the sea and rivers are things under private law, but do not have any owner until water is extracted. The seabed of the territorial sea and the Wadden Sea are State-owned and cannot be alienated. State-owned markets, schools, and swimming pools are public things. The public may claim access to private roads. Certain privately owned forests are maintained, in return for tax benefits, in the public interest. Health care, food, education, housing, and environmental protection are protected commons. Nationalisation requires an expropriation unless the owner is willing to sell: property may be expropriated only if in the public interest and the owner is compensated. In private law, there are specific grounds on which a non-owner can claim access to somebody else’s land.