'No room for extra pinch points'

Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) sees no scope to designate more dairy farmers as bottlenecks and to offer exceptions to individual groups of entrepreneurs. She made that clear on Wednesday evening 27 June in the debate about the phosphate rights system.

The minister faced a committee of MPs who unanimously, each in their own way, declared themselves to point out more dairy farmers as bottlenecks. Schouten said he shares the concern and also feels the pain that is currently being felt on many dairy farms.

CBS: 2018 almost at the ceiling
Nevertheless, Minister Schouten made it clear that he did not see any room in the current system, with the associated agreements with Brussels to maintain the derogation, to accommodate even more dairy farmers with exemptions or granting extra rules.

According to Schouten, the CBS forecast indicates that 2018 million kilos of phosphate will be produced in 83,3 (dairy sector). The fixed ceiling is 84,9 million kilos. Schouten considers that margin too small to create more space by designating extra bottlenecks. According to her, the ceiling has been included in the sixth Nitrate action programme, which has passed the current derogation. Moreover, the European Commission has been promised to include the sectoral phosphate ceilings in the law.

Schouten against disembarkation
Throughout the debate, the minister adhered strongly to the national sector ceiling. Helma Lodders (VVD) and Jaco Geurts (CDA) asked her about this, among others. Geurts suggested looking several times at other sectors, in order to raise the ceiling for dairy cattle. Schouten clearly doesn't feel like this. In addition to the agreements made with Brussels, it fears more problems with ammonia and methane for dairy farming and does not want to saddle other sectors with more uncertainty.

Various MPs also asked the minister whether there is room in the phosphate bank† This is filled by skimming 10% with every transaction. Schouten indicated that it has been laid down by law that the rights from the phosphate bank apply to the stimulation of land-relatedness and young farmers. It is not easy to deviate from this. She also said that the phosphate bank currently contains 'only' 145.000 kilos of phosphate. "That's not nearly enough to meet all the extra pinch points."

'Do not shorten non-ground-bound again'
The SGP and VVD asked Minister Schouten several times to gain space via the feed track. The minister declined by stating that any profit is nil and has already been included in the CBS forecast. The only option she sees (legally speaking) is to continue to shorten generically on the group of non-land-bound farmers. "They have already been cut by 8,3% and you also create new bottlenecks."

Helma Lodders (VVD) and Carla Dik-Faber (ChristenUnie) asked Minister Schouten to look at the intervention in the speculation in the trade of phosphate rights. Prices fluctuate widely and there are signs of market disruptive effects. "We consciously chose a market. It must therefore do its job," says Schouten. "I also call on all those involved, especially dairy farmers, to report signs of abuse to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl). I made this call before and I checked: to date, RVO.nl has not a single report was received."

Without hope again to Brussels
The minister does not see any additional space for organic farmers and dairy farmers with rare breeds. The only commitment she made (after repeated calls) was to go back to Brussels to see where there is still room. This concerns the issue of the national sectoral phosphate ceiling. In doing so, she states that she absolutely does not want to arouse false hopes. Schouten himself clearly does not believe that there is still something to be gained somewhere.

The PVV and the CDA asked her to ignore Brussels wishes and demands. The PVV called for the sector ceiling to be ignored and to tell in Brussels that the earlier agreement was a mistake and must be set aside. Geurts: "The holy cars of the Germans (Volkswagen and Mercedes) are not tackled by the Germans and not by Brussels in the event of fraud. Then there must also be leniency for our extra cows." Schouten then sighed: "I want to commit myself to this cause again in Brussels, but you cannot ask me to break the law."

It was striking that she of her own accord called on the banks and dairy sector not to just drop out of business that are clearly stranded by the phosphate rights system. It was an appeal from a minister who seemed genuinely concerned about the position of dairy farmers who actually suffer from the new legislation, but who simply see no solutions to rectify this.

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