Background Nitrogen mood
Continuity is paramount in the government's agricultural approach
Where the Agricultural Agreement fell apart last week, the government is now continuing on its own initiative. Agriculture minister Piet Adema wants to continue on a course towards land-bound, i.e. with GVE or grassland standards. Christianne van der Wal, the Minister for Nature and Nitrogen, submitted the report 'Standardization and Pricing of Nitrogen Emissions' to the weekly cabinet meeting. In our Nitrogen Mood section, we give an impression of the nitrogen crisis in our own way.
De first explorationsfrom this nitrogen report were already published in March. Its implementation does not go as far as the introduction of an Accountable Substances Balance (ASB), because it only addresses emissions to the air (with a levy). But it is a stepping stone.
Double lock again
It is precisely on these two points - the GVE standard and the ASB - that the Agricultural Agreement reportedly collapsed last week. LTO could perhaps live with one of the two, but not with a double lock on the herd. This would have meant a cold reorganization for livestock farming on sand. And there are already so many double locks in the regulations for agriculture, with additional administration, that the sector has therefore become allergic to it. However, the cabinet wants to push further on the path that has been set. For a stocking standard, the path seemed open for a long time. LTO Noord and the dairy sector were not opposed. The ZLTO only woke up late to the danger and now has to pull out all the stops to be able to steer something. That is more difficult than before, because the CDA has become much smaller and is no longer an undisputed ally. There is even less control over the VVD.
No automatic block
The fact that the Ministers of Nature and Nitrogen and of LNV are now submitting their own plans to the Cabinet and later to the House of Representatives does not mean that additional legislation will be in place very soon. If the civil servants of Van der Wal and Adema continue to work hard this summer, there may be some first documents to vote on in September. However, there is still a long way to go after that. The fact that the BBB cannot easily block the government in the Senate is a stroke of luck for the current coalition. In addition to all this, an update of the European system of Critical Deposition Values is also on the way, reported Minister Van der Wal earlier this week. This system is originally a Dutch invention and was exported to Europe.
For the Netherlands, Wageningen Economic Research, formerly LEI, is working on a Dutch elaboration of this. It is mainly the livestock sector that will be most affected by all this. This sector, but actually the entire agricultural sector, is watching it, but continues to behave as has been established time and time again in recent years. That is divided, unable to resolve mutual differences of opinion and looking for its own advantage over that of peers. In addition, the organizations in this sector seem increasingly disconnected from the members. There seems to be fear of elections, direct representation and loss of positions.
Where is FrieslandCampina?
The trade associations in the food industry are also remarkably quiet. They naturally follow the position of the primary organizations, as far as possible. They talk to everyone (including the government), but otherwise seem absent. In the past, for example, the Dutch Dairy Organization (NZO) was dominated by FrieslandCampina and it had an emphatic presence from the cooperative, acting almost solitary and authoritarian. Now the reverse is the case. Where are the chairman and his board, is complained.
With more 'body' also more 'bang'?
The question remains whether a united agricultural sector could also have made good agreements with the government about something like an Agricultural Agreement. In other words, would more 'bang' have been possible with more 'body'? In politics in The Hague, there was a lot of noise this week about missed opportunities for agriculture. The coalition was at the forefront of this, but the documents published this week regarding the agricultural consultations do not reveal any hard promises from the government. Nowhere are concrete revenue models for larger groups of farmers presented and no guarantee is offered that, for example, the European Commission will agree to plans. The government is not committed to anything. Seen in this way, there is a lot of continuity, agricultural agreement or not.
Harnessed and left
In fact, according to the reports afterwards, it is striking how little the cabinet has moved compared to the position at the start of the Agriculture Consultation. A more unified agriculture might have been difficult to change that. Part of the coalition is very adamant about curtailing the agricultural sector, the other part accepts it.
Klaas van der Horst
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