The angry white men are suddenly on the left

Yet we still live in a coalition country, the voter has legally spoken and there is no need to immediately draw caricatures of Geert Wilders who in turn starts a kind of Jihad. As long as the PVV sticks within the framework of the (Constitution) Act (and Wilders has promised this), there is little to worry about. Even if some other politicians don't like it and their truth now counts less.

Tough week for Timmermans
It was certainly a tough week for Timmermans. Not only does his dreamed place in the tower at the Hofvijver now seem like a mirage, his European legacy is also being increasingly destroyed. The Nature Restoration Act previously became a toothless tiger, and was also abandoned last week a new plant protection regulation the Strasbourg dental chair with teeth left behind.

food security
The reason is that more and more people in the EU realize that Timmermans' plans are very bad for European food security. With an increasingly politically unstable world, it is really wise not to buy all kinds of basic necessities to be dependent on imports, but being able to grow enough yourself.

In the meantime, the new GroenLinks-PvdA combination has still achieved quite a small Timmermans effect, because together they have eight extra seats. It hardly seems celebrated. In addition, these gains mainly came at the expense of other parties on the left.

Transition continues
Although a completely different House of Representatives is now taking office, the question remains whether and how quickly anything will change for agriculture. It may take some time before there is a new cabinet.

For the time being, lower levels of government are continuing with their own agendas. Various provinces and water boards are continuing with their plans for the transition of rural areas. Not entirely incomprehensible either, because another signal has not yet been sent. Moreover, they also have their own responsibilities.

Different approach wolf
Some provinces have now taken advantage of this responsibility to implement a different policy. For example, various provinces want to take a fresh, slightly different look at many of the nature plans in their area the province of Gelderland has provided the first impetus for a different wolf policy. Deputy Harold Zoet wants to actively campaign for a lower protection status for the wolf in Brussels and believes that a wolf should be able to be shot if the animal has passed a wolf-resistant fence twice. The wolf lobby in the Netherlands is obviously not happy with this.

Matching LTO chairman
Advocates are also adapting to a very different political climate. Very soon after his election victory, PVV leader Geert Wilders received congratulations from, among others, the FDF and Agractie. It is not known whether LTO has done the same. It is of course permitted and also imitable, but it might have been difficult to imagine a few months ago.

LTO Netherlands already has a lobbying effort announced and sent before the formation. That commitment seems a little more tailored to the changed playing field. What remains is a suitable chairman. Maybe a Limburger after CDA member Van der Tak?

Residual policy
In the meantime, some pieces of 'residual policy' continue to be released from the outgoing cabinet, such as last week an anonymous 'official document' about a different approach to the Critical Deposition Value (KDW). It is a suggestion, not an official policy proposal. The question is whether it will have much value in the near future, but it appears to be a last attempt by the existing official-political coalition to keep the current KDW afloat for as long as possible - by first applying a milder standard for a while. . In the meantime, no substantive deviation has been made from the path taken since 2017 in favor of the strictest possible Dutch agricultural standard.