Strenghts abandoned by Geurts?

Several motions were submitted during the report of the Mest general consultation. The lack of support for one of the motions is the cause of the dispute between Innovatief uit de Knel and Geurts. Roelof Bisschop (SGP) submitted a motion in which he requests the government to obtain independent, external advice from state aid experts in the very short term and he wants the House to be informed about this before February 1, 1.

Innovative from de Knel is in contact with experts about state aid and they indicate that the ministry misinterprets the state aid decision of the European Commission (EC). According to Henk Antonissen, this mainly concerns the allocation of phosphate rights to non-milk supplying companies. According to Antonissen, this almost makes a difference 2 million kilos phosphate and this would help the farmers who are in trouble. So there is a lot at stake for these farmers.

Unjustified criticism of the minister 
It is in line with Geurts' commitment to support such a motion, but he does not do so. "Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) indicates that various state aid experts have been involved in the procedure, and according to her there is no ambiguity about the procedure." 

He believes that the motion is an expression of little confidence in the minister and he thinks that is unjustified. "We must not forget that she also had this put on her plate." He thinks it is unwise that the person is now being played. By this he not only refers to the criticism of him, but also to one movie that rotates among the minister.

Sleepless nights
Frank Futselaar (SP) indicated during the general consultation that this file is the most difficult part of his portfolio. Laura Bromet (GroenLinks) wished the farmers a lot of strength. It is clear that the dossier does not leave MPs unaffected. Geurts: "I couldn't sleep a number of times and that is special."

Geurts has submitted several motions in recent years that did not receive a majority or where he encountered legal limitations. "I don't know how I can help the farmers anymore," says Geurts. He is therefore now focusing on leniency for farmers who do not yet have a decision on an objection.

Nevertheless, Geurts scored a small success together with Helma Lodders (VVD): the minister announced during the consultation that she supports the idea of ​​using phosphate from the phosphate bank for farmers who are entitled to more phosphate based on a court ruling. In this way a new generic discount should be prevented.

Innovative from De Knel files a complaint 
It is understandable that Geurts chooses his coalition partner, and his support will not make the difference. However, there is a chance that Innovatief uit de Knel is right, because hasn't the ministry misinterpreted the EC rules before?

Innovatief uit de Knel is convinced of this and is therefore submitting a complaint to the EC about the way in which the Netherlands interprets and implements the state aid decision. And with that, relations are definitely on edge.