The Provincial Council of the province of Noord-Brabant met on Friday 11 October to discuss the advice of the Remkes committee. Hundreds of farmers had come to the provincial government house, sometimes by tractor. It was reminiscent of July 2017. In that year, Brabant's nitrogen policy was tightened up.
In contrast to July 2017, CDA and VVD now also have doubts about the calculation methods of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), as several times has been raised by the Mesdag Zuivelfonds Foundation. The parties would like certainty about this. In 2017, it was mainly the PVV and Christian Union that drew attention to this. Just as in 2017, D66, Party for the Animals (PvdD) and Groenlinks reacted strongly to this. In their eyes, the RIVM method is flawless.
Effect of other regulations
However, VVD wants to be sure that the measurements are correct before policy is based on them. It also wants to know the effect of the measures already adopted. How many farmers are going to stop, what does that mean and what is the effect of the stopper scheme and other current schemes? Wilma Dirken, the spokesperson for VVD, does not agree with buying out livestock farmers before it is clear how unemployment can be prevented and the countryside deflated.
For the farmers, the meeting was a relive of July 2017. Janus Scheepers of ZLTO indicated that he mainly wants to continue the conversation and is looking for opportunities for consultation. However, according to him, many farmers think that things will be the same as in July 2017: the tightened regulations will continue.
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