While criticism of the BBB's decisiveness - and in particular of Minister Wiersma - for Dutch agriculture is increasing, there are also people who are protecting her. This happens naturally from within her own party, but LTO chairman Ger Koopmans is also doing so, and perhaps not necessarily because he is also not heard from very much.
At a Friday LTO meeting in Drachten, Koopmans (see photo) urged the Lower House not to keep calling Minister Wiersma to the House. It only keeps her from doing her work, according to Koopmans. He thinks that if the minister is given a little more time, things will almost automatically turn out well, especially because a different wind is blowing in Europe. According to Omrop Fryslân, Koopmans was optimistic. He did not sound a critical note about the PAS reporters, but mainly hopes for a new derogation, which Wiersma is currently working on. LTO is working with a group of other organisations on a filling thereof.
Samsom sobers up
However, Koopman's optimism was dashed by his old acquaintance and current chairman of the supervisory board of Gasunie, Diederik Samsom. "Don't count on it. If you assume it and you don't get it, the disappointment is all the greater," Samsom is quoted as saying. The former Greenpeace activist, former politician and former right-hand man in Brussels of Frans Timmermans knows what he's talking about. He was on top of the discussions about the last Dutch derogation.
PAS fathers
Together with Koopmans he also stood at the cradle of the infamous legislation, which was decommissioned in 2019, and which is now causing so many farmers to get into trouble. Samsom is apparently sobered by the PAS debacle (but also stands for other goals), Koopmans retains confidence in the polder.
IPO wants justice
Koopmans and some others in agriculture may hope that they will arrive at a solution through consultation and waiting, but many no longer do so. The provinces are also losing patience. In particular, the new postponement for PAS reporters, which Wiersma is requesting, has not gone down well with them. "It deeply affects our sense of justice that these companies are still in a precarious position, with all the business and personal consequences that entails," they write in an urgent call to the minister. They want clarity quickly.
BBB vs BBB
What is so spicy about this piece is that it does not come from political opponents. Not even from recalcitrant NSC and VVD members, but from a club in which the BBB content is particularly high.
What is also not going very well is an agreement on the cow purchase plan, which is needed to get under the manure ceiling for dairy farming next year. As so often, it depends on the financing, and it does not seem to be getting any easier.
Submit budget
Because the government has had to accept setbacks in implementing the big plans (planned cutbacks are lower), all ministers have to hand in budget. So Wiersma too. This may mean that more will be asked of the agricultural business community. If that does not work out, generic measures will be threatened again, which the BBB does not want either. The party is thus in danger of being forced to make choices. The crown jewels in the provincial and parliamentary elections were the liberation of agriculture and the countryside from the nitrogen knot. Given developments in recent months, the party must be careful not to get drawn into it itself.