Background Nitrogen mood
FDF wins recognition for PAS reporters, but is it fair?
Would the Farmers Defence Force (FDF) rescue the PAS reporters just in time, just before a new cabinet with a D66 minister of agriculture takes office? On Thursday, there was suddenly a press release from the FDF titled 'S-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal: The State acted unlawfully towards PAS reporters!'
It almost sounds too good to be true. Yet the Court does say this in its pronunciation from a few days earlier. It is an extensive statement and more things are written down in it. Dutch Lawyers' Journal therefore draws a different conclusion: "The Court cannot compel the Dutch state to legalize PAS reporters." The Court in 's-Hertogenbosch notes, with a modesty not shared by all judges, that it cannot intervene in the legislative process.
This perfectly illustrates the entire dilemma of the ruling. It's good that PAS reporters can at least count on something, and on more than just promises, but will the thousands of PAS reporters now also be given justice, in the sense that they can move on?
Financial consolation prize
The FDF emphasizes that PAS reporters can now at least expect compensation. For some, this is sufficient, as they may already have reached the point where they wanted/want to quit. For those who remain, it's a consolation prize at best, as the government now has carte blanche to fob them off with a bag of money. This solution is in line with what's currently written in the new Environmental Act.
As for law, we're still waiting for legislative amendments, such as the implementation of a new arithmetic lower limit (actually a threshold). That's already close to the goal, but it still needs to be done. It's a fine task for the new Minister of LVVN to push through this.
Fans of fermentation
This week, another interesting suggestion came from the agricultural sector: (future) Minister Van Essen: ensure that, in addition to Lely Sphere and Bovaer, manure digesters on farms are also recognized. It brings back memories of the project. Jumpstart, and not without reason. The call came from FrieslandCampina CEO Jan Derck van Karnebeek, but it's being echoed by LTO chairman Ger Koopmans. He's had a few face-to-face meetings with both the incoming minister and the incoming state secretary recently and knows they're likely to be committed to this. He notes that they're both fans of anaerobic digestion.
Nitrogen alarm remains on high alert
But even though Van Essen will soon be on the right side for many nitrogen activists, as minister, pressure will continue to be put on him and the cabinet. Several national newspapers were quick to make a big splash this week because of the net two pages of text from a 'reflection' from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). Concerns were expressed about whether the new government would achieve the nitrogen targets for the coming years, even though nothing could be done yet. The nitrogen alarm is still quite sharp in some areas.
Caroline is taking it easy
Now that the new cabinet is almost inaugurated – Monday at the King's office – BBB leader Caroline van der Plas also seems to have seen fit to step down. She will remain a Member of Parliament, but will hand over the parliamentary group leadership to her colleague Henk Vermeer. He, too, has been a BBB member from the very beginning, but with a different profile than Caroline. Therefore, it probably won't be easy for him to take her place, especially with Caroline still right behind him. He'll have plenty of work to do, as the BBB has taken a beating, and the party remains in turmoil. However, that's also partly the culture within the BBB. Tight coordination isn't in their DNA.
Strong harvests great involvement
There's also work to be done for CDA member Mirjam Sterk of the Utrecht provincial executive. Her radical nature plan, the UPLG (Ultra-Low Environmental Impact Assessment), has already generated 1.700 comments from concerned rural residents. A sign of her strong commitment. This allows Sterk to request additional funding for even more external hiring, on top of the external staff she has already engaged. Her own officials are unlikely to process so many comments within a reasonable timeframe. However, she has reaped what she sowed. Her former colleague in the CDA House of Representatives faction and current LTO chairman Ger Koopmans described her plan as a phase-out plan for agriculture, which is apparently not welcomed by rural communities.
Twelve plans, one policy?
The question is also how her plan will be viewed in The Hague. Some coalition parties might even be somewhat jealous, as they would have actually wanted something similar. On the other hand, you can't govern a country with twelve provinces each pursuing their own agenda, not to mention the resulting legal complications. It might have worked if Sterk had become Minister of the Netherlands Association of Women and Youth (LVVN). Then she could have tried to roll out her plan nationwide, but the coalition parties weren't keen on that.
Klaas van der Horst
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