Farmers’ interest organization LTO does not intend to enter into discussions with Johan Remkes, who has been appointed by the cabinet to mediate between farmers and the government. According to LTO, it is not possible to talk to Remkes enough about the content of the cabinet’s policy the organization writes on Thursday in a letter to ministers Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen, VVD) and Henk Staghouwer (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, CU). Earlier, Agractie and Farmers Defense Force, which are known as more radical organizations than LTO, have already indicated that they have little interest in a discussion with Remkes about the government’s nitrogen targets.
LTO writes that it is open “in principle” and “under clear conditions” for a discussion with Remkes. The organization specifically states that it wants a discussion about the content of the nitrogen plans. Nevertheless, LTO has had to conclude in its own words that the ministers definitively do not want to talk about the ‘real problem’: the cabinet would not want to talk about the ‘goals and principles’ of the cabinet’s nitrogen policy. “This keeps LTO’s core objections intact; the whole remains a dictate and we fear with such large-scale interventions in the short term clear-cutting in the countryside.”
mediator
A few weeks ago, the cabinet announced the regional targets for the reduction of nitrogen emissions, which are necessary to preserve protected nature areas in the Netherlands. This led to a lot of protest among farmers: although the provinces still have to figure out how to reduce nitrogen emissions, it is clear that the livestock population must shrink by at least 30 percent nationally. Farmers have protested several times in recent weeks. In some cases this went smoothly, in others highways or distribution centers were blocked.
To calm the mood, the cabinet appointed Remkes last Sunday as the discussion leader between farmers’ organizations and the cabinet. In a four-line note, ministers Van der Wal and Staghouwer spoke of an “independent discussion leader” who should ensure “connection” between the cabinet and farmers in the increasingly explosive nitrogen problem. They did not provide much clarity about the exact assignment with which Johan Remkes will be charged.
Farmers’ organizations said immediately afterwards that they doubted Remkes as a mediator. One important problem is that he wrote the nitrogen policy himself on behalf of the cabinet. On Monday, Sjaak van der Tak, chairman of LTO Nederland, told news channel BNR that he expected little from Remkes.
Also read: Farmers have reason to mistrust Remkes