Few bumps in the road for Nitrogen Act

It seems that there is a majority in the Senate to vote for the Nitrogen Act. The parties in the senate debated Tuesday (March 2) with outgoing agriculture minister Carola Schouten. On March 9, the Senate will vote on the law that is officially called the 'Nitrogen Reduction and Nature Improvement Act', including 4 submitted motions.

Schouten had already secured support for the bill from opposition parties SGP, SP and 50Plus in the House of Representatives. GroenLinks, PvdA, FvD and faction Otten have already said they will vote against the bill. GroenLinks, PvdA and PvdD also believe that the bill does not protect nature sufficiently. According to PVV, Fractie-Nanninga and FvD, nitrogen is not a problem and the law is therefore superfluous.

First MPs from GroenLinks, SP and CDA, ChristenUnie and 50Plus are concerned about the legal sustainability of (certain aspects of) the bill, the PAS law was also cited several times.

Agricultural Agreement
The minister said he was working on the motion by Member of Parliament Roelof Bisschop (SGP), 'with what is popularly called the agricultural agreement has come to be called'. "In this context, we are making agreements with a view to a long-term economically and ecologically sustainable future for the agricultural sector. I have asked the SER to facilitate this process. The advantage of the SER is that it can also sit down during a cabinet formation."

Schouten also indicated that the innovation program is already underway and that she is busy with the conversion programme. Schouten: "With this I want to support farmers who are going to make the switch to circular agriculture this year."

Motions
5 motions were submitted, but 1 motion by Peter Schalk of SGP was withdrawn, after Schouten had promised not to wait until 2028, but to evaluate within 4 years whether the objectives are being achieved. In the motion by Niko Koffeman (PvdD), co-signed by Saskia Kluit (GroenLinks), the government is requested to stop the procedure for the legalization of Lelystad Airport.

Two motions by Marjolein Faber-Van de Klashorst (PVV) concerned the so-called Standard Data Forms (SDF). She would like to request the government to provide the substantiation for the establishment of SDF as soon as possible, preferably immediately. In the other motion, the Senate is called upon not to vote on the Nitrogen Act until the minister has provided substantiation for the establishment of the SDF. According to Schouten, Faber is mixing up 2 things and it concerns Article 17 reports, which she would like to provide.

The motion by Martin van Rooijen (50Pplus) requests the government to consider regional initiatives for senior housing with municipalities and provinces on the basis of purchased farms.

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