The loss of the derogation for Dutch agriculture has not yet been officially announced, but according to numerous sources, it is very close to the market. When it comes to that, it does not automatically mean a reduction in emissions or a gain for nature and the environment. However, it puts even more pressure on agriculture.
Minister Henk Staghouwer of LNV also appoints the latter a letter to the House of Representatives. Farmers will tear up more grassland, which causes extra nitrogen emissions. Extra corn is grown on some of that land, which is considered less pleasant, especially in terms of landscape. Due to the loss of manure placement space, more manure must also be removed and additional fertilizer must be used.
'Thrift store ball' not entered
Remarkably, the minister does not buy into the 'circulation ball': anyone who uses more company-owned manure and does not transport everything in and out is, after all, a better circular farmer than the one who does it differently. But apparently when thinking about cycles, people think more about food and feed than about manure.
Things are also one-sided in Brussels, otherwise permission would have been given long ago to use more animal manure and less artificial fertilizer. Out of the box-thinking is apparently very difficult. The shadowy Nitrate Committee in Brussels is evident the report only interested in one thing: less fertilizer in the soil. It is probably mainly in this context that it is interested in the progress of the Dutch purchasing scheme in pig farming.
Given the tone of the report, the Netherlands should not have high expectations about a new derogation. Which Staghouwer also indicates in the above-mentioned letter. Most agricultural organizations are already taking this into account.
Consent to deviate
And unlike the currently announced Dutch nitrogen policy, there is not much that can be done about the loss of the derogation. A derogation gives an EU member state permission to deviate from a European directive that seems to have been firmly established for years. That is different from having to comply with policy intentions, which are not yet law and which often appear to be weakly substantiated.
If the Netherlands does indeed lose its derogation, it will almost certainly not be all of a sudden. Most people who are somewhat involved in the matter assume that there will be a phased and regionalized policy, depending on the soil type - to avoid excessive shock effects. It is expected that such a transitional phase of several years will end in definitive loss of derogation.