Johan Remkes believes that the cabinet and farmers’ organizations have had a “constructive conversation” under his leadership. That while, according to him, there is a “serious crisis of confidence” between the government and the agricultural sector. This is not only the result of the nitrogen discussion of recent times, he also emphasized.
“That has to do with the accumulation of regulations in recent years,” he says. “But also with the feeling among farmers that justified questions have not been answered.” According to Remkes, farmers also feel that there is little confidence because of “faltering policy”. The nitrogen problem has also been pushed forward for years, says Remkes, who also finds it understandable that farmers are uncertain about their future. “The impasse has to be broken to the left or right,” he says.
Remkes also wants a broad so-called ‘socio-economic impact analysis’ to be made. “And we’re not just talking about nitrogen, but also about water, manure, climate. We have also made agreements about how we can look from just deposition to emissions.”
LTO chairman Sjaak van der Tak sees some movement in the nitrogen file after a “firm and tough conversation”. But as far as he’s concerned, it’s not enough to continue talking today. “The ball is in the cabinet. That should restore the confidence of our farmers and horticulturists.” Van der Tak was unable to provide any further explanation. “First I want to inform my supporters.”
Towards the end of the conversation, which lasted over an hour, several lectures were circulated about the atmosphere at the table. According to a spokesperson for Remkes, that would be “fine”, but LTO emphatically distanced itself from that. Remkes himself acknowledged that critical words were also used. “We have had the conversation without flour in our mouths”.
The ‘nitrogen map’ was also discussed at length during the meeting. That card caused a lot of unrest among farmers. The government has apologized for this today. Prime Minister Mark Rutte acknowledges that the map, which states how much less nitrogen may be deposited per area, has led to “great confusion” and “misunderstandings” among farmers. Many farmers deduced from the map how much less nitrogen they themselves will be allowed to emit, but “it doesn’t work that way”, according to the prime minister. Rutte promised that the cabinet will “improve communication”.
Rutte also wants clarity for PAS reporters quickly. “Those are the companies that thought they were complying with all the rules, but which are no longer the case since 2019,” he says. “We also want to look at innovation. The third thing we discuss is the following: farmers say that we only look at deposition, but that they can’t do anything with it because they look at emissions.” Deposition means that, for example, nitrogen also descends from industry. Farmers prefer to look at emissions, in other words: what they themselves emit.
According to Rutte, two more meetings are planned. One with farmers’ organizations and one where Remkes also joins. But the genie is not back in the bottle yet, according to Rutte. “This was a first conversation.”