If it is not possible to persuade the largest nitrogen polluters to stop within a year with a generous scheme, the cabinet must proceed with expropriation.
That is the opinion of Member of Parliament Tjeerd de Groot of the ruling party D66. He says there is “no other choice”. Forced buy-out is very sensitive within the coalition with VVD, CDA and ChristenUnie.
On Thursday, the House debated the advice that former minister Johan Remkes drew up after his attempt to mediate between the cabinet and the agricultural sector on nitrogen policy. Remkes advises, among other things, to ensure that five to six hundred so-called peak loaders stop or become significantly more sustainable within a year, a recommendation that the cabinet will not accept.
Along the edges
VVD MP Thom van Campen believes that De Groot’s appeal is “swimming along the edges of the coalition agreement”. The agreements with which the coalition parties once again joined a cabinet at the beginning of this year leave room for forced buy-out, but as a very last resort. Van Campen also believes that the D66 member “does not do justice” to Remkes’ report.
This week, the cabinet was again faced with a setback in the field of nitrogen. The Council of State put an end to the so-called building exemption, which in recent years ensured that there was still some room for the construction of houses, for example. As a result, construction projects again threaten to be delayed.
Annoying
“The ruling makes building really difficult, while thousands of people are waiting for a house,” says De Groot. “Nature cannot wait any longer and our society must not come to a standstill.” That is why he wants to see an end to “a policy of sticking and holding back”.
D66 will be able to count on the support of opposition party GroenLinks. Party leader Jesse Klaver said in the debate that he prefers to tackle peak tax burdens on a voluntary basis. But he also believes that the withdrawal of permits “will eventually have to be in the toolbox”.
Following De Groot, Van Campen and Boswijk, Klaver was also critical of the statements of agriculture minister Piet Adema, who said earlier this week that he wanted to stick to 2030 as a deadline for halving nitrogen emissions.
He was making “false promises”, according to the GroenLinks leader. “The biggest mistake we can make is to make this a good news show, pretend it won’t hurt.”