Background Nitrogen mood
On to second Remkesdag and first Ademabrief
Next Thursday is Remkes Day in the House of Representatives. Then the people's representatives debate the advice of the Groningen politician and the position of the cabinet on this. A few days later, agriculture minister Piet Adema comes with his long-awaited letter, which used to be called the 'perspective letter'.
These are two moments that are exciting for the agricultural sector, because will there be room for the opportunity to look ahead?
Positive refusal is permit
Certainties are still scarce. Last week there was an encouraging decision for farmers by the Gelderland court about the so-called positive refusal. If agricultural companies have their permit situation checked by the province, it will not always issue a new nature permit, but will often refuse it because there is nothing wrong with it. Such a 'positive refusal' felt a bit thin for many farmers, because is it official proof that everything has been approved or not? With the support of the Nitrogen Claim Foundation a partnership in Putten filed a lawsuit. According to the ruling in that case, a (proof of a) positive refusal can be seen as equivalent to a permit. That is a great reassurance for many companies, as a result they feel less outlawed.
PAS detectors and rejected stables
Other categories of companies are not yet out of the question. This concerns, for example, the PAS reporters and interim workers, and also the companies that have built a low-emission barn approved by the government. Despite Remkes' words, there is still no solution for the first group. For the second group, neither the state nor the province of Brabant have taken their responsibility. Meanwhile active group MOB will continue to contest their permits. The Critical Deposition Value (KDW) also remains sharp, despite all the scientific and legal comments.
In the run-up to the two aforementioned events, of course, a few things happen. The House of Representatives is heavily lobbied, both by agriculture and other interests. The ministers are also in full discussion.
Extra pressure on emission space
The nitrogen dossier is also being put under a lot of pressure from outside agriculture. For example, the aforementioned action group MOB announced that it is going to court because of the missing or defective nature permits for Schiphol and 2 other airports. MOB wants a penalty for every day of postponement that Minister Van der Wal gives to air traffic. Biofuel plants are also being tackled. All to increase the pressure on the emission space.
This could lead to exciting politics again in the near future, with many surprising twists and turns. Time and again, all kinds of interests, including those of agriculture, are weighed up against each other. For example, which counts more: Schiphol, Tata Steel or the future of hundreds of agricultural companies?
Klaas van der Horst
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