News Council of State
PAS reporters still in uncertainty about privacy
PAS reporters have to wait another six weeks to see whether their company data will be hidden or made public. The Council of State will then rule on an appeal that was filed yesterday.
The case has been brought again by environmental organization Coöperatie Mobilization for the Environment (MOB), which won previous cases about making the data of PAS reporters public. Under the ministerial regulation of the Programmatic Approach to Nitrogen (PAS), companies between 2015 and 2019 could only report a change in their operational management that would cause more nitrogen to be emitted if the increase was limited to 1,0 mol/N2/ha. In total, approximately 3.600 companies did so.
On January 27 of this year the Council of State ruled in an appeal lodged by Minister Carola Schouten and LTO Noord, that the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) obtained the location data of ten PAS detectors (for practical reasons, the case was initially limited to ten of the 3.600 stakeholders). had to make known. The same judgment as the District Court of the Northern Netherlands in the summer of 2020. The judge ruled that the location data logically form part of the nitrogen emission data and that location data is necessary to enable effective public monitoring of those emissions. The minister does not have to make emission data public if this would jeopardize the safety of companies or if this would prevent sabotage, but according to the court there are no concrete leads for this.
Minister hangs €72.000 penalty over his head
Schouten subsequently published the coordinates of emission sources and maps showing the emission sources, without the addresses. MOB found this insufficient and again went to court and was proved right again. The minister was also imposed a penalty with a maximum of €72.000. If the minister loses the case, the ministry must also pay that amount in addition to the legal costs. The verdict is due in six weeks.
LTO: Business address also residential address
LTO reports on the website that it opposes the disclosure of company data, because in most cases it concerns a farm where the entrepreneurs not only work, but also live with their families.
Linda van Eekeres
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