The cabinet is already bringing forward half a billion euros from the nitrogen fund to implement plans by the provinces. These include plans to ‘facilitate’ farmers who want to voluntarily quit. Major parties in the business community see opportunities in the proposals for a solution to the nitrogen problem.
But Agractie disagrees. The organization has been working hard for weeks for the government’s nitrogen plans to be significantly adjusted on a number of points. And that’s not happening now. Van der Wal’s letter to parliament is therefore dismissed as “a whole lot of blah, a whole lot of technical nonsense.” “We are going to evaluate this, but the goal has not been achieved,” Kemp said.
The action group also thanks farmers who showed again on Friday afternoon “that the land can just be flat.” “That was a clear signal in many places. The roads were closed in many places. There were people on bridges and in cities,” says Kemp, who also issues a new warning. “Thanks everyone for that and if necessary, it can be longer of course.”
Other organizations from the business community, including VNO-NCW, MKB-Nederland and Bouwend Nederland, see openings in the minister’s letter. They especially praise the fact that the cabinet is making resources available to ensure that 2022 is not a lost year “for nature restoration, housing and other economic developments and farming.”
Agricultural and horticultural organization LTO Nederland agrees with their response. “After much insistence, the cabinet is heading our way,” LTO also says in its own statement. The organization is referring specifically to the plans that have been submitted to legalize so-called PAS reporters more quickly, something LTO has been advocating for years.
PAS reporters are farmers who have been brought into trouble by the government through no fault of their own. Under the Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS), farmers were previously able to dismiss projects with low nitrogen precipitation with a notification under the Nature Conservation Act. No permit was required for this. But because the regulation was declared invalid by the Council of State, the legal basis for this is now missing.