Talks about derogation and nitrate remain secret

The talks between the European Commission (EC) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) remain under the proverbial cap. The Wob request, with which an attempt was made to make the correspondence about the derogation and the nitrates directive public, was partly rejected by the court in The Hague.  

What happened between the European Commission and the Ministry of Economic Affairs? This question has been asked several times in the last two years when discussing the derogation and the nitrates directive. In an effort to clear some of that fog, a Wob request (the Open Government Act) to gain access to the correspondence. 

It does not help, because the court in The Hague declared the request unfounded and partially rejected it. 'In the interest of the relationship between the Netherlands and the European Commission.'

This concerns the documents relating to the derogation from 2014 to 2017. A total of 27 documents, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. An important argument for the court was that the defendant referred to the fact that insight into the course of the negotiations may also mean that Member States will vote differently in a subsequent derogation application from the Netherlands.

Because the relations between the Netherlands and the EC already carried sufficient weight, the defendant's second argument with regard to privacy was no longer considered. Hence, the request was partially rejected.

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