News Government statement
'Agricultural transition needed for housing and businesses'
The policy programs related to the climate fund and nitrogen/transition fund with a total of €60 billion will be developed from now on, Mark Rutte said in the government statement he delivered in the House of Representatives this morning (Tuesday 18 January). Rutte emphasized that government policy is not 'closed up and signed with blood'. The relevant specialist ministers will listen to their ears inside and outside The Hague, according to Rutte.
Today and tomorrow the House of Representatives will debate the government statement of the new cabinet. Rutte started by making the government statement: "I start with the observation that many major problems cannot be solved in a few years. That is why this is first of all an agreement that looks beyond one cabinet term. We do this, for example, by introducing the climate policy targets to reduce CO2 emissions for 2030 and beyond, towards a climate neutral 2050, with the aim of passing on a liveable country to next generations and contributing to a clean planet.We look further ahead, by investing large amounts in all changes that are necessary to improve nature and offer Dutch farmers a good future perspective. The transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduction of nitrogen emissions is also necessary to create space for housing, roads and businesses."
Motion BBB: Leave money nitrogen fund on the shelf
Late in the afternoon, the debate was still in full swing, but the nitrogen/transition fund had already been discussed a number of times. Caroline van der Plas of the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) is going to file a motion to leave the €25 billion from the fund on the shelf - to divide part over topics where money should go, such as AOW - and to 'stop nitrogen plans until the cabinet knows what it is talking about'. "We are going to spend 25 billion, while we do not know at all what the state of nature is and it is not clear which nitrogen deposition ends up in nature," says Van der Plas. "Show me the reports showing that the nitrogen from livestock farming precipitated in a nature reserve. Which nitrogen has precipitated, where does it come from and how can we help those companies to innovate?"
Other opposition parties also question the nitrogen problem. Geert Wilders (PVV) referred to nitrogen as a 'D66 hobby'. Wybren van Haga (Group Van Haga) said that nitrogen is only a bureaucratic problem. "Precisely because of the Kafkaesque nitrogen problem, there is no prospect for farmers." According to Sophie Hermans (VVD), the nitrogen problem does exist and we can therefore not build houses or build roads, and nitrogen also has a negative impact on nature. Esther Ouwehand (PvdD) believes that the cabinet should go further and conclude that the livestock should be reduced by 50 to 70%.
LTO: 'Restoring trust is the challenge'
Before the start of the debate, LTO indicated that, in its opinion, restoring confidence is the key task for the new cabinet and that the House of Representatives plays an important role in this. Last Wednesday, LTO chairman Sjaak van der Tak and director Hans van den Heuvel spoke with the new ministers Henk Staghouwer (LNV) and Christianne van der Wal (Nitrogen & Nature). In this first meeting, according to LTO, 'the earning capacity in the sector, the major transitions and the necessary restoration of confidence was well discussed'. "Both ministers emphasized the importance of good contact with the sector. A number of working visits are planned for this in the short term," LTO writes in the message.
Linda van Eekeres
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