Farmers’ movement Agractie has a telephone appointment with nitrogen mediator Johan Remkes on Monday, Bart Kemp of the action group confirms on Saturday after reporting by NOS. It is still uncertain whether the group will also join the exploratory conversation that LTO Netherlands has with Remkes about nitrogen policy on Friday, and to which Agractie has also been invited.
“Remkes made contact on Friday. He wants to talk by phone and we finally agreed to that,” says Kemp. The request for the conversation therefore comes from the mediator and, according to Kemp, is about the conversation invitation. “But we are undiminished critical of his suggested independence. I don’t know a farmer in the Netherlands who thinks he is independent in this respect.”
A precondition for Agractie to enter into discussions with the mediator is that the nitrogen standards in nature reserves (the so-called critical deposition value) must be removed from the Nitrogen Act. “The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency also says that this says nothing about the status of nature. If there are no commitments made, there is no indication that this can be discussed, then a conversation is pointless,” says Kemp. “We have communicated repeatedly that we want this, but to date there has been no response.”
Even if “we can only put our concerns on the table, it is of no use,” Kemp said about Friday’s discussion participation. “It does if we can actually hit the nail on the head.”