Background Nitrogen mood
Rummenie steps on the toes of vested interests
Wageningen University was quick to call outgoing State Secretary Jean Rummenie to account last weekend when he dismissed a wolf report from the WUR research factory as unusable. The WUR spokesperson, at the request of the board, rushed to nu.nl to reprimand the State Secretary. Rummenie himself had requested the investigation!
Anger was vented because Rummenie, as a non-scientist, supposedly dared to judge scientific work, especially on his own behalf. Wrong indeed! And if he'd wanted a different approach to research, he should have described it better, you might say. After all, most policy research is colored by the client, as is well known.
How many wolves in a panda?
It could be argued that the Wageningen researchers interpreted their assignment very narrowly, as they – several of whom have a pro-wolf background – interpreted it along the lines of "how many people can fit in a Fiat Panda?" According to the report, the Netherlands could accommodate more than fifty packs, say 350 to 400. As if the Netherlands doesn't also have 18 million people and other livestock.
So, it's entirely fair to say that Rummenie is questioning, perhaps not the intelligence, but certainly the common sense of the Wageningen researchers. Meanwhile, it's suspected that WUR boss Sjoukje Heimovaara isn't particularly concerned about this. More troubling for her is that Rummenie is now outsourcing a broader study to a foreign contractor.
Not just inexperience
For politicians – who were elected with a genuine mandate – it's often quite difficult to follow through on their stated intentions. This is especially true if they are of a different persuasion than the civil service. This also applies to policy researchers. Under the more left-leaning Rutte cabinets, few words were needed to push through a poorly substantiated nitrogen and nature policy. Even then, there were political debates on the matter, but administratively, everything went smoothly. Things are different under the Schoof cabinet. Political commentators in The Hague then observe that this cabinet is achieving little and conclude that the political innovators are failing. This reasoning is far too simplistic. Things go wrong due to inexperience, but resistance from bureaucratic and institutional sources is also ignored.
Secret report that everyone knows
Another such example is the fate of another study commissioned by Rummenie to Amsterdam researcher, Professor Ronald Meester. His study on the scientific merits of nitrogen standards has been shelved for some time, but it hasn't been released. When a Member of Parliament Lidewij de Vos When asked about it, it suddenly became clear that many members of the House of Representatives were familiar with this officially unknown report, and an outraged uproar erupted. Several MPs had their own strong opinions on the matter, and on social media, Meester suffered the fate the judge reluctantly granted to Wolf Bram. Three guesses as to where the MPs suddenly got their knowledge. Moreover, Rummenie's alleged violation of the vested (nitrogen) interests of policy scientists also played a role here.
The big question now is whether Professor Meester's report will ever see the light of day. Several high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LVVN) want to prevent its publication. They apparently also believe that politicians should listen to them, not the other way around.
Symbol for inability
Not much happened in Parliament this week regarding agriculture. On Wednesday evening there was still a long-standing debate about the customized issues for PAS reporters and related bottlenecks. Unfortunately, it didn't yield much in practice. The PAS reporters will thus go down in history as a symbol of political incompetence. Like her predecessor Christianne van der Wal, Minister Femke Wiersma also said she is doing "everything" she can to move forward, but that it's proving difficult. Meanwhile, opportunities have been missed to adjust the arithmetic lower limit, as indicated last week. For the time being, the PAS reporters remain at the mercy of the MOB and its friends. MOB leader Johan Vollenbroek told nu.nl that he is annoyed that this is being held against him. Meanwhile, he is the one who continues to put pressure on these farmers and their families.
Political solution needed
FDF cheered this week that they had beaten MOB handily, because Vollenbroek's club was not allowed to join a lawsuit from FDF. Unfortunately for the FDF, there's a chance that MOB will have the last laugh in this matter. The so-called Pigs in Need ruling the European Court of Justice speaks a different language.
Probably better than to continue to legalize this is to find a political solution, which politicians can also enforce with decisiveness.
Klaas van der Horst
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