The fuss over the letter from European Commissioner Sinkevicius to Minister Van der Wal last week shows once again what a loveless relationship we actually have with Europe. Loveless and, worse, devoid of insight and sense of responsibility.
Sinkevicius asked Van der Wal whether the Netherlands will achieve its nitrogen targets. It shouldn’t fall behind. He also reminded her that the huge bag of money with which the Netherlands wants to buy out a number of farmers, 24.3 billion euros, is a form of state aid. What if those farmers use that money to start over in another country and start emitting nitrogen there? That is why these buyout plans must first be tested against European state aid rules – a procedure that the Netherlands in Europe is usually very fond of when it comes to, for example, French money for French companies.
The letter had barely arrived when society started sputtering again about “that feudal EU and its unelected leaders”. About that ‘misery Union’ that we just have to get out of. And about the Commission that should leave the Netherlands, a hell of a net payer, alone and finally go after those corrupt Italians, who are also net payers by the way.
But it is Sinkevicius’ job to write letters like this. As far back as the 1950s, the member states, including the Netherlands, decided that they would make the most important decisions in Europe themselves, but that an independent body – the European Commission – should monitor those agreements. It still is. Some people may find it difficult for a Lithuanian to check whether the Netherlands is complying with the rules, but the Netherlands helped set up that system at the time. Many Dutch people think it is good that the Commission forced Greece to undertake economic reforms when it had violated European fiscal rules, or that it withheld subsidies for Hungary as a punishment for violating European rule of law rules. Now that the same Commission gently reminds us that we too have to do our homework, they are starting to squeak.
‘2030’ is not a Brussels diktat, the Netherlands has determined that itself
And guess what: even that homework is not dictated by Brussels. We have imposed it on ourselves, in many stages.
In the early 1990s, Dutch civil servants, together with colleagues from other Member States, enthusiastically traveled up and down to Brussels with rolling suitcases to negotiate, among other things, the Habitat Directive. This directive was introduced in 1992 at the request of the member states. As so often in Europe, this is a compromise of a compromise, because all Member States want something different and everyone should see something of their wishes reflected in such a scheme. In general terms, the directive prescribes that nature must not deteriorate and that Member States have an obligation to keep it in good condition.
Moreover, it was Dutch politics that directed these civil servants substantively and that determined how far they could go. All kinds of lobbyists have had their say, including in The Hague. In addition to the member states, the European Parliament, with various Dutch people in it, also decided on the directive.
Finally, it was Dutch politicians and civil servants who ensured that this directive was translated into Dutch law. European directives mainly provide frameworks, which Member States are free to fill in themselves. For example, ‘Brussels’ does not prescribe that nitrogen precipitation in the Netherlands must be halved by 2030. This has been determined by the Dutch government itself, in conjunction with the civil service and the House of Representatives. The Netherlands also decides for itself how it intends to achieve these goals. So we have our own objectives, our own measurement methods, our own precipitation values. The only thing we regularly send to Brussels are the figures and measurements that show whether the country has achieved its objectives or not.
So there are clear Dutch fingerprints on all these stages, from the late 1950s to the present. “Brussels, that’s us,” they sometimes say. That’s right, and the nitrogen saga is a good example of that. You would like Dutch politicians, with such a great responsibility for what is happening in Europe, to be more clear about this. Unfortunately, when things go wrong it’s easier to duck and let people shoot at Brussels.
Caroline de Gruyter writes about politics and replaces Floor Rusman here.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 8, 2023