News Nitrogen crisis
Question marks about Remkes's role as nitrogen mediator
Johan Remkes will be the independent mediator in discussions between the cabinet, local authorities, the agricultural sector and other interested organisations. The announcement by ministers Henk Staghouwer (Agriculture) and Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) on Sunday places the farmers' organizations with major question marks. They are not happy with Remkes, as is BBB frontwoman Caroline van der Plas. And exactly what assignment will Remkes receive and why will the talks only start in a month and a half?
The talks will only take place in the second half of August, Staghouwer and Van der Wal announced in a letter to the House of Representatives this morning (Sunday 3 July). Remkes is still on holiday and will start his work as moderator, as the ministers describe his role, around 13 July. However, the political The Hague will then be on recess. Remkes will use this political holiday to prepare for the talks.
In farmers' circles, however, this agenda is translated, although Staghouwer and Van der Wal do not see the urgency of consultation and this will certainly not reduce anger about the nitrogen policy and the attitude of the cabinet. Bart Kemp, the foreman of Agractie, calls the timeline in the media with a sense of euphemism "richly late". There are also loud doubts about the independent role of Remkes, who as an informateur is the architect of the current Rutte IV cabinet and who previously published a report advocating a warm reorganization of livestock farming. Kemp is most explicit about Remkes' appointment. He calls this "nonsense" "He has no confidence in the sector."
No specific assignment with you
In addition, the ministers in the announcement of Johan Remkes do not give him a concrete assignment, except that the talks 'are aimed at connection.' It is therefore completely unclear whether Remkes will eventually have something to offer farmers. According to LTO Nederland, however, clarity must soon be provided about the status of the talks. In an initial response, the organization says it looks at the term 'discussion leader' with mixed feelings, as the ministers now use it.
This suggests that the talks should focus on the details of the nitrogen policy outlined by the cabinet and that Remkes should try to bring the two parties together in the implementation. "It is crucial that we can discuss the real pain points with the mediator and the cabinet. So about the goals, the time frame and the way in which reductions can be achieved. If there is not that space, then a conversation simply takes place. makes no sense," LTO said in a statement. LTO says it is not known in the choice for Remkes, the organization previously stated, just like Agractie Albert Dijkgraaf in front of. "But in principle we are open to a conversation.
Not for Piet Snot at the table
Farmers Defense Force says in a reaction in the media that it sees no point in talking with Remkes. "The cabinet is making blunder after blunder and now they are sending out a mediator who has to enter into a discussion unilaterally without being allowed to alter the goals," said Vice-President Jos Ubels. "I wonder what should be said in such a conversation." He also wonders whether farmers are prepared to sit down with Remkes 'for Piet Snot'. "I certainly don't." Kemp van Agractie is also on this line. "We don't feel like having a tea party."
Caroline van der Plas, leader of BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), also questions Remkes' independence as a prominent VVD member and chairman of the 'Remkes Committee.' In a response to social media, Van der Plas stated that the aim of the talks should be to restore trust between the cabinet and the farmers' organisations, so that support can be created for a jointly supported nitrogen policy. There is no point in a conversation if the cabinet says in advance that the nitrogen targets must be maintained, says Van der Plas. “A bad marriage can also never be repaired if one of the parties continues to keep divorce as the goal.”
With Remkes, the cabinet is presenting a political heavyweight who has knowledge of the nitrogen dossier and is an expert at reviving stalled political conversations and distrusting interlocutors. Last autumn, for example, he smoothed out the completely stalled formation talks between the VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie towards the formation of the Rutte IV cabinet. He has also been chairman of the so-called 'Remkes Committee', who made recommendations two years ago in the report 'Not everything is possible' about a structural approach to nitrogen in the long term. In it he argued for a warm reorganization of Dutch livestock farming. Ultimately, few of the recommendations from this report have so far been adopted by the government.
Clearcutting among agricultural companies
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives urged in an emergency debate about the farmer's protests, calls for a mediator to arrive to smooth the talks between the cabinet and the farmers' organisations. Not all parties in the House were up for this if the cabinet itself does not show flexibility in the goals and implementation of the announced nitrogen policy. LTO emphasizes that the House has insisted on a mediator and not a moderator. "In accordance with parliamentary debate and our own wishes, we assume a mediator and associated assignment."
Until now, the ministers Van der Wal and Staghouwer have always indicated that they are open to discussions with the farmers' organisations, but that the nitrogen targets up to 2030 will not be changed. These - as became clear on the now infamous nitrogen map - include a nitrogen reduction of 90% along large nature reserves, which, according to the farmers, is guaranteed to result in a clear cut among the agricultural companies there.
It is striking that the cabinet is taking a month and a half before the first official talks start. Whether the farmers who are protesting now and have announced a major protest for tomorrow (Monday, July 4, for example) will wait for these talks or demand a helping hand from the cabinet sooner is open to question. From a study that Heart of the Netherlands published today, it appears that 54% of the Dutch are behind the farmers' protests and have no problem with the Netherlands being 'closed down' on Monday - as the farmers have announced.
Eric the Thrush
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