News Nitrogen
Case against nitrogen model Aerius delayed by year
The Stikstofclaim Foundation (SSC) must initiate proceedings on the merits for a ruling on the calculation program Aerius. The court in The Hague has declared itself incompetent to make a decision in preliminary relief proceedings.
The judge already indicated three weeks ago that she doubted whether she should rule in such a weighty case as the suspension of Aerius. This ultimately made the difference for her. For the SSC, the provisional outcome is a disappointment, because 'it means a year's delay', notes chairman John Spithoven. The postponement is downright painful for the Twente pig farmer, who is also involved in the procedure, because penalties are hanging over his head and he cannot buy additional nitrogen rights.
With the current ruling, it has now been made clear that SSC is admissible as a party in a case against Aerius. The State Attorney made quite a point of that when the lawsuit was filed. SSC believes that the judge still takes a strange reasoning step in the ruling that has now been made. She argues that SSC should have sued the province and not the state, because the provinces work with Aerius. SSC, on the other hand, argues that Aerius is made mandatory by ministerial regulation and that therefore the minister must be addressed.
Klaas van der Horst
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