From left to right, ‘discussion leader’ Johan Remkes received compliments on Wednesday.
Bart Kemps of Agractie warmly shook hands with Johan Remkes after the presentation of his report in the House of Representatives building. And Caroline van der Plas of BBB also reacted positively in principle: ,,I take back all my words that I said beforehand about Remkes. This is the first time someone has said something nice about farming here.”
Not that all objections are suddenly off the table, far from it. Tackling 500 to 600 ‘peak tax collectors’ within a year in exchange for the legalization of the so-called PAS reporters will still be a very difficult story. And as far as Remkes is concerned, there will be a different method for calculating the weight of the nitrogen blanket instead of the so-called critical deposition value, but it is highly questionable whether this will work legally.
There is something for everyone to enjoy
“Of course everyone spins it the way he or she wants, and there is something for everyone to get out of it,” grins agricultural spokesman Joris Thijssen of the PvdA parliamentary group. “But the bottom line is that it is now really inevitable that something really serious is going to happen and that is badly needed.”
What helped for the critics was that Remkes wiped the floor with the cabinet policy until now. The plans have not been properly explained, farmers have been offered far too little perspective and no proper thought has been given to how agricultural companies will actually emit less nitrogen. The nitrogen map in particular was a political mistake, he thought. But D66’s “push” about halving the livestock was also unwise, according to Remkes.
Dangers of political feeling
Remkes had no illusions that his report would be received with applause, he said. Not by agriculture, but also not by the cabinet. He also said that he had not coordinated his plans with the cabinet in advance, but that he had only sailed on his political feeling.
His criticism was hard to swallow for nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal, who has defended her policy with verve in recent months. She and her colleague minister Piet Adema, who has just been there for three days, now have to go back to work at their ministry. And then hope that the four coalition parties can work with the new plans. At first glance, however, the probability seems quite high.