Farmers, provinces, municipalities and water boards are joining forces to remove the Netherlands from the nitrogen lock. They fear that the starter package of outgoing minister Wiersma from April does not offer sufficient guarantees to get the granting permits back on. That is why they now present a package of measures themselves. It is remarkable that the parties also do not exclude coercion.
This is a plan of the Interprovincial Consultation (IPO), farmers’ organization LTO, the Association of Dutch Municipalities, the Union of Water Boards and the Dutch Agricultural Youth Kontakt.
Emissions
The parties want to guarantee that the emission of nitrogen is going down. The granting of permits is locked because promises about this have not been met in the past. Judges have tapped the fingers about this several times. At the beginning of this year, for example, the judge demanded that the Dutch state does more to prevent nitrogen from landing on vulnerable nature.
The signatories of the plan say that agriculture will have to emit 42 to 46 percent less nitrogen in ten years than in 2019. They want to get it done, among other things, by capturing how much nitrogen may still be expelled in 2030 and 2035. Companies that do not achieve the goals can lose (part of) their permit or rights in the extreme case.
Zones around vulnerable nature
The parties also want compelling measures in a zone around two to five Natura-2000 areas where the nitrogen problems are the urgentest. In order to make permits there again, according to the authors of the plan, ‘legal re -allotment’ can be used.
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“That may mean that farmers are obliged – but without substantially deteriorating – having to trade in their country for land that is further from a nature reserve,” says IPO chairman Ina Adema. “The cabinet wanted this too, but we are going one step further. We also want to take the option to take on more areas around more areas in 2030 if the granting of permits does not start.”
Conditions
In exchange for these commitments, the parties also want the national government to cross the bridge. For example, they want the outgoing cabinet to help entrepreneurs who are now in a buy -out scheme as well as possible with stopping. It also wants to see that innovation becomes possible and that the cabinet takes on a large part of the bill. Adema estimates that a number of billions are needed from the government.
For the farmers’ organizations it is important that companies are only judged on their own nitrogen emissions instead of the state of nature in the area, because they are not the only ones who influence it. Farmers organizations also want space that arises for permits, for example, to help so-called PAS counts again to a valid permit.
For the IPO, this plan is part 1 of a more extensive plan. The organization wants to talk to nature organizations in the coming period about what is needed to preserve and restore nature in the Netherlands. Chairman Adema expects that tens of billions from the government are needed for the approach.