Background Nitrogen mood
Practicing in the province for new national policy
After the province of Utrecht, it was the province of Gelderland's turn this week to present its own rural policy. The plans aren't entirely comparable, as Gelderland's involves a partial adjustment, but it's interesting to compare them. This is especially true because Utrecht's plan was drafted by a coalition similar to the one that may be forming in The Hague, while Gelderland's plan is supported by parties still part of the old, now-defunct coalition in The Hague.
The Gelderland plan is significantly less radical for agriculture than the Utrecht plan. That almost speaks for itself. In Gelderland, politicians are somewhat more considerate of agriculture, although this province also wants to impose limits on agricultural activity, including by restricting area-specific space for new activities and by introducing 500-meter-wide buffer strips around vulnerable natural areas. The substantiation for this is inadequate, as it is largely based on the flawed Nature Target Analyses from about two years ago.
Permit expectation management
But according to Provincial Executive Member Ans Mol (BBB), it will help to get the province off the nitrogen lock and make permitting possible again. This latter expectation is seriously questionable, as also agricultural organization Agractie indicates. There's little substantive support for Mol's expectations, as she doesn't provide any concrete justification or evidence. It seems more like the hope of a well-meaning administrator, as expressed on numerous occasions in recent years, unfortunately always misplaced. Unless national legislation is amended on crucial points, all expectations, such as those of Mol and many agricultural administrators, will remain unfounded. It's a shame, then, that she saddles farmers with measures that are unnecessarily restrictive but otherwise achieve nothing.
Strong prefers to deal with MOB
Utrecht Provincial Executive Mirjam Sterk (CDA) has likely achieved a better deal, but at what price? She and her administrative team regularly meet with the MOB action group to coordinate, according to provincial documents. If Sterk can push through with her plan, businesses allowed to stay in the province likely won't have to fear enforcement requests and other legal proceedings from Nijmegen. MOB will have already secured a significant amount of revenue in Utrecht and can better deploy its capacity elsewhere. You could consider that a win. But... who will still be allowed to stay in Utrecht, and with what economic prospects? A common complaint from the agricultural sector in the province is that Sterk only sees room for hobby businesses and farmers whose income largely comes from subsidies. An exception also seems to be in the works for organic farms. Meanwhile, "regular" farms are facing a significant impact. Due to all the restricted zones, there's little left for them.
Cherrypicking protocol
The Achilles' heel of Sterk's plans is the data she uses to justify her policies. Her officials have applied the "cherry-picking" protocol: They prioritize data and reports that support the desired policy, omitting data that doesn't translate well. You could hardly blame them, since national government officials do it too, for example, with water reports for Brussels. And they seem to think that what works in The Hague can also be done in the provinces.
Back to pre-BBB policy
There have been rumors for some time that Sterk is preparing for the position of Minister of Agriculture in the new cabinet of D66, VVD, and CDA. Sterk has not commented on this. Should she become Minister of Agriculture, it doesn't immediately seem logical for her to use the UPLG as a template for national policy. That would likely be unfeasible. Nevertheless, calls are growing among the prospective coalition partners to refocus on stricter nitrogen policy and pick up where Christianne van der Wal left off.
Thijssen's list
Outgoing chairman Ingrid Thijssen of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW) (she is moving to Delft University of Technology) presented a €19 billion wish list this week and also requested the introduction of one-kilometer-wide buffer strips around nature reserves. A return to the pre-BBB era. Bouwend Nederland (the Dutch construction industry) and NGOs in the nature sector are also in favor of this. Opposition was needed from chairman Ger Koopmans of the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture (LTO Nederland) and the Dutch agribusiness sector. Jan Derck van Karnebeek (FrieslandCampina) and Piet Hilarides (Agrifirm) were invited to the meeting on their behalf. Will their "antidote" be strong enough? Their input has not been made public, but their supporters are undoubtedly deeply concerned. Agractie and a number of other, non-LTO agricultural organizations were not invited, but sent their concerns as a sign of this concern. a burning letter to informateur Letscher
The broom of Rummenie
What will actually happen after a new cabinet takes office remains to be seen. According to some optimists, it could happen by the end of this month. Looking back at the outgoing ministers, it's fair to say that State Secretary Jean Rummenie has been the most effective minister in the fields of agriculture, nature, and rural areas. He has particularly initiated significant research on nature and nitrogen, having thoroughly overhauled the overly uniform clique of policy researchers. An example from this week is his collection letter nature.
View from outside
In it, he reiterates that he has commissioned an independent international study into the conservation status of the wolf in the Netherlands, finally providing an outside perspective on the policy pursued thus far. He is also working on a commission to conduct an "international comparative legal study" into the method of granting nature permits within the European Union. He wants to ask the working group to "examine countries with comparable environmental impacts and make recommendations on how the Netherlands can utilize their permitting system." Rummenie wants to examine Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Flanders, and France in particular. He previously commissioned Professor Ronald Meester of the University of Amsterdam to investigate the nitrogen models used to assess the state of nature.
Master and the Natural Establishment
The master was very clear and decisive about this, much to the dissatisfaction of the nature establishment in the Netherlands, but the research was published. There was even a reasonably positive government response up, although the VVD insisted on adding a passage stating that not everything is scientifically substantiated. Sources in The Hague know this. Everything in the seat of government is political, after all. Finally, a small boost for plant cultivation.
Other cause of Parkinson's
Not from politics, but from science. Research by the universities of Utrecht and Nijmegen It now appears almost certain that there is no direct link between pesticide use and Parkinson's disease. One of the lead researchers would have preferred it to be different, but he too had to revise his opinion. Another urban legend about agriculture can be thrown in the bin. What is troubling is that so many people are now having to revise their beliefs: D66 politician Tjeerd de Groot suggested that Parkinson's in family members was related, as did former CDA MP Rinder Algra. The Parkinson's Association was also absolutely certain, as were AI search engines on the internet. The truth is sometimes complicated.
Klaas van der Horst
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