The government wants to have the right to be the first to buy available nitrogen space. The cabinet will announce this plan this afternoon, sources from The Hague report NRC. For example, nitrogen space is released when farmers or other nitrogen emitters cease their activities and put their permits up for sale. The right of first purchase does not only apply to the national government, but also to government organizations such as Rijkswaterstaat.
The right to first purchase nitrogen space is part of the cabinet’s larger nitrogen plans. The cabinet will announce more about this on Friday afternoon. For example, Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema (CU) will present a letter about the future of farmers and Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal (VVD) will send a letter about the nitrogen approach.
With the right of first purchase, the cabinet can influence the redesign of the landscape. This means that it can, for example, allow certain business activities, such as housing projects, or give space to extensive agriculture – with less livestock. Only if the government is not interested in a license can commercial parties make a bid. With this, the cabinet wants to prevent companies such as Schiphol or large project developers from buying up many permits to allow their plans to go ahead.