Around half of the government’s own offices do not have the required C or higher energy label, and the defense ministry has been particularly slow to upgrade its premises, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday.

All offices over 100 square metres in size were supposed to have had at least a C label since January 2023, but nationwide only 63% – accounting for 77% of floor space – has achieved the minimum, the paper said.

But the government is performing worse than the commercial sector.

Some 541 of the defense ministry’s 574 buildings which should have an energy-efficiency classification have no label at all, the paper said. Police, ministry, court and tax department offices score much better than this but still have work to do.

Home affairs minister Hugo de Jonge said in a reaction upgrade plans are now ready for most government offices, so they will meet the standards by 2026 at the latest.

The energy label rules were introduced in 2018.