Farmers Defense Force threatens Brussels

Farmers Defense Force (FDF) will turn to the European Commission if agriculture minister Carola Schouten and the provinces continue with external netting of nitrogen to other sectors. This is a first step in the legal battle that FDF is entering into to limit the consequences of the government's proposed nitrogen policy for Dutch livestock farming.

According to chairman Mark van den Oever, his organization has put together a strong team of scientists, lawyers and FDF directors to legally attack the cabinet's nitrogen policy. He does not state who these are in a message posted on the FDF website. Van den Oever indicates that his organization has "enough on the shelf to be able to refer a large part of Schouten's nitrogen laws and policy proposals directly to the trash."

Convert ammonia
The first step is to challenge the external netting of nitrogen space to other sectors, FDF reports. The organization has already announced this before† The core is buying ammonia rights (NH3) from agricultural companies, after which they are released as nitrogen oxides (NOx) to industry or housing. According to FDF, this conversion increases the particulate emissions by a factor of 20.

And that while the Netherlands is very close to the European ceiling for the emission of particulate matter, that is how the organization motivates. "With every transfer of nitrogen from agriculture to other sectors, we therefore go beyond the fine dust ceiling. This is illegal and prohibited by European legislation," writes Van den Oever.

Go to court
If the provinces and the cabinet continue to net externally to other sectors, FDF will file a complaint with the European Commission. If necessary, this will also be followed by going to court, Van den Oever warns.

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