Phosphate Debate: What to Expect?

It is a striking choice by the minister, because both topics require a lot of time. The letters to Parliament, which were sent in the run-up to this consultation, paint a picture of legislation that needs to be constantly adjusted and has not been well thought out. The most striking thing is the fact that 85,7 million kilos worth of it phosphate rights has been distributed, while the ceiling is 84,9 million kilos.

Letter to Parliament from Schouten
In the letter to Parliament of Friday, December 7, Schouten mentions something that has happened to the ministry: too many phosphate rights have been distributed. In the letter she explains how those rights will be regained; for example through skimming, the exemption for mammal farmers and the removal of rights from beef farmers. This once again indicates that there is no possibility of distributing phosphate to emergency situations. However, what is missing from that letter is the answer to the following question: why is it that the ministry has distributed too many rights?

According to the minister, this is not due to the allocation of rights as a result of objections. This yields approximately 238.000 kilos of extra phosphate and the emergency response scheme has so far yielded an additional 269.000 kilos. When calculating the generic discount, the fact that extra phosphate had to be distributed was taken into account. However, there was already an exceedance in March and there were no objections or bottlenecks at that time.

Reclaiming rights
The policy rule for young cattle has already recovered 319.000 kilos of phosphate and the suckler cow farming exemption scheme has yielded 55.000 kilos of phosphate. The expectation is that the latter will ultimately yield around 140.000 kilos. However, this still does not yield enough to fall below the number of permitted phosphate rights. Schouten has therefore decided to open the phosphate bank not yet to open up.

This is a remarkable choice, because various interest groups have suggested several times that the use of skimming should be used to relieve serious bottlenecks. Martijn van Dam was clear on that point at the time: "Spending the skimming on companies that are extra sustainable is an essential part of the rights system." Without issuance via the phosphate bank, the system would have no right to exist and would not be approved by the European Commission.

Schouten still maintains the phosphate bank, but formally this may have a different status than the partial use of skimming for bottlenecks. However, this does not mean that the sustainability aspect of the phosphate rights system will come into effect in the first year.

Commitment of the House
It is expected that MPs will not be very critical with regard to the rights distributed. Both coalition and opposition are keen not to make things too difficult for Schouten. However, from the role of the House, it is indeed an important subject, because only the ministry had insight into the decisions that were issued.

It is striking that in her letter the minister makes a clear distinction between the CBS data and the phosphate rights system. The figures from Statistics Netherlands were decisive in determining the generic discount. And now the figures show that phosphate production probably remains almost 2,5 million below the ceiling. This is also why MPs are not pushing it too hard. However, Schouten certainly has a lot of explaining to do to the European Commission.

Irregularities in the I&R system
The new measures regarding the I&R system will also be discussed during the general consultation. Schouten has already announced that the 'marking before reporting' measure will be postponed. In addition, the Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union (NMV) has indicated that the fines for administrative errors are excessively high. Such a mistake quickly results in a €1.500 fine. The internet consultation also yielded many responses about the amount of the fines.

Schouten says that certain measures are desirable from the sector; strict calf registration in particular is a request from the sector. The stricter rules are intended to convince livestock farmers that it is important to register the animal correctly. It is up to the MPs whether they believe that the measures are proportionate to the goal. This will become clear during the general consultation.