The Netherlands has strict own nitrate standards

The discussion around the 7^e Nitrates Directive action program continues to occupy the minds. Brussels insists stricter measures and agrarian Netherlands calls Schouten's plans unrealistic and unworkable. The conversations between the ministry and the sector are very difficult. And now the Agrifacts Foundation (Staf) is also doing its bit. She has discovered that the nitrogen standards that are used in the Netherlands are a lot stricter than in our neighboring countries. 

The European Nitrates Directive seems clear. The nitrogen standard for groundwater has been set at a maximum of 50 milligrams of nitrate per litre, a standard that is met by the Netherlands in the vast majority of the country. See the map below for this.

Surface water is a different story
No hard standards have been set from Brussels for the pollution of surface waters (lakes, rivers, transitional and coastal waters). But nitrates and phosphate can cause eutrophication in surface water, ie oxygen loss due to algal blooms. At EU level, 36% of rivers, 32% of lakes, 31% of coastal waters, 32% of transitional waters and 82% of marine (salt) waters are classified as eutrophic. On the basis of the measurement data, the Commission has compiled a map showing the state of the surface water.

Member States must take remedial measures regardless of the cause of the eutrophication. The guiding principle for this is the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which has its origins in the Nitrates Directive. "Unfortunately, no trends for trophy at EU level are available for fresh surface waters either due to the lack of data and differences in the methodologies used by Member States to determine trophy," the European Commission recently wrote in a statement. report to the Council. According to the Commission, the lack of trends for fresh surface waters is due to differences in methodologies used by the Member States.

best boy
In the Netherlands, the standards are set by the water boards that take the WFD as a starting point. According to Staf, the limit in the Netherlands is generally 1,3 and 2,8 milligrams per liter (summer average), while Flanders maintains a much broader standard of 4 milligrams per liter for drainage and Germany, converted 11,3 milligrams per liter. "It is striking that many Dutch water boards also apply the strict WFD nitrogen standards for farm waters. Flanders and Germany do not do this, they opted for a lighter standard for non-WFD waters," Staf writes on the website.

A fair point: like monks like caps. However, it remains to be seen whether aligning the standards for Dutch policy will be much more favorable. For example, Flanders was reprimanded about the conditions for derogations, Germany because of the action program and Italy and Spain both about the stability of the control network, the designation of nitrate-sensitive areas and the action programmes. The Netherlands is not in this list. The Netherlands is doing relatively well with regard to both groundwater and surface water.

We're not there yet
Our country is then again mentioned, together with Germany, Denmark and Spain, as a member state with a 'systemic problem with the management of nutrient losses from agriculture'. In that sense, the Netherlands is not the only country that still faces a significant challenge. In Germany, in particular, there is a fierce debate, just like ours, about the introduction of stricter measures, which are being looked at critically, in particular by the sector.  

In the meantime, Europe states that Member States must designate the contaminated areas as nitrate-sensitive areas in order to take mandatory measures. Instead of an area-oriented approach, countries can also choose to apply their action program to their entire country. That is the strategy that the Netherlands have also chosen, for example Germany, Denmark and Belgium (only Flanders). What makes the discussion even more complex is the overlap with the new CAP, which also sets requirements for limiting the leaching of nutrients. Measures from one program have consequences for the other and vice versa. 

Jurphaas Lugtenburg

Is editor at Boerenbusiness and focuses mainly on the arable farming sectors and the feed and energy market. Jurphaas also has an arable farm in Voorne-Putten (South Holland). Every week he presents the Market Flash Grains

j.lugtenburg @boerenbusiness. Nl

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