Hope gives life. Otherwise, it cannot be explained why the government thinks it will succeed this time in actually reducing nitrogen emissions from livestock farming as a matter of urgency.
Because what has actually changed since October 2019, when the cabinet announced a ‘smart and warm’ remediation? Livestock farms would be bought out, relocated or made more sustainable. There was no other option, given the looming construction impasse as a result of the nitrogen judgment of the Council of State.
Since then, the cabinet has tried everything from driving less fast on the highway to low-protein food for the cows, but as soon as it came to remediation it got bogged down in circumferential movements. Until the then newly appointed minister Van der Wal, with her now infamous nitrogen ticket, showed that it would not work without major interventions – and the flames were more than ever in the countryside.
Not many demonstrators are as effective as the farmers, because after that the hesitation immediately took hold again in the Binnenhof. Meanwhile, the pressure continues to rise. Governments at all levels have meanwhile faced lost lawsuits over permits: as long as it cannot be shown that nature restoration has actually started, any new building permit is shaky from the outset. Moreover, the longer the government waits, the less time and space there will be for innovations and the transition to more sustainable agriculture. And the more painful the intervention ultimately becomes for the farmers. As national discussion leader Johan Remkes puts it: delay leads to less prospects, not more.
Given the downright hostile summer mood among farmers towards The Hague, it is a major achievement that Remkes has brought all interest clubs back to the table. This was especially successful because he radiated understanding in all his fibers for their predicament. The cabinet, which does not want to lose the fragile support again, adopted that understanding attitude on Friday: yes, the farmers are part of it and yes, there is certainly enough room for a beautiful agricultural sector. The nitrogen ticket had already been withdrawn, as if that also solved the problem.
That has had some political success. Large-scale protests seem to have stopped for the time being. The cabinet has bought peace. The question is, certainly since Friday, how long that will take. Because a lot is now being asked of Van der Wal’s helmsmanship. After all, the weapon that Remkes considers to be the foundation of the strategy has already been knocked out of her hands in advance: first, urgently end the emissions of five to six hundred peak loaders, only then will there be room to work calmly on innovation, sustainability and all those other possibilities that the farmers themselves see. So do it with strong urgency and, if necessary, with coercion, emphasizes Remkes, not to start the conversations with, but as a big stick behind the door. Because otherwise it quickly becomes too casual.
It is precisely on that point that the cabinet does not bite through, based on the apparent conviction that with a warm remediation, and while preserving the peace, it will ultimately be faster, more effective and legally decisive.
And of course that’s a nice idea. But that was it in October 2019.
The position of the newspaper is expressed in the Volkskrant Commentaar. It is created after a discussion between the commentators and the editor-in-chief.