Already 20,000 objections to nitrogen agreement

“86 percent of the responses come from individual Flemings,” Sintobin says. “That shows that it is not just about voting by agricultural organizations, and that the general population shares the concerns about that nitrogen agreement.”

The Flemish government wants to reduce nitrogen emissions because they results in fewer plant and animal species and disrupts nature. Nitrogen comes mainly from agriculture, transport, industry and households.

Vlaams Belang argues once again for an impact study into the socio-economic consequences of that agreement. “We had submitted a proposal about this in the Flemish Parliament, but it was voted down by the other parties,” Sintobin regrets. “However, it is irresponsible to impose nitrogen-reducing measures without investigating what the negative economic consequences will be for our food industry as a whole, including in terms of employment. Hopefully the massive resistance of the population will make the government realize that major adjustments are necessary.”

Also read:

* DOSSIER: everything about the nitrogen agreement of the Flemish government