A downer for outgoing minister Femke Wiersma (Agriculture, BBB). A majority of the House of Representatives has approved a motion by Pieter Grinwis (Christian Union) that prevents Wiersma from implementing her fertilizer plans.
The motion literally requests “no irreversible steps be taken until the new cabinet takes office.” As a result, the cabinet cannot complete the so-called Nitrate action program and send it to Brussels. A majority of the House in fact presses the pause button, depriving Wiersma of the opportunity to relax the manure policy.
Coalition party VVD also agreed with the motion. Recently there has been a fight within the cabinet about manure policy. Wiersma’s political opponents – including within her own party – do not agree with the relaxation plans because of the deterioration in water and air quality. Minister Robert Tieman (BBB) and State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (VVD) of I&W have been fighting for weeks to change Wiersma’s plans.
Water quality substandard
The fact that the motion has been adopted indicates that the House of Representatives is particularly critical of the way in which decision-making regarding the nitrate directive took place. An action program has been sent to Brussels every four years since the early 1990s. EU member states must indicate how they will further improve their water quality.
If too much manure is spread, especially near streams and ditches, nitrate and phosphates affect the quality of the surface water. Water boards and drinking water companies in particular raised the alarm this summer when they saw the provisional content of the now eighth Nitrate action program.
In response, Wiersma called the motion submitted on Wednesday evening “untimely” because the cabinet is still discussing the action program. She kept mum as to whether the motion would be carried out. “If we do not implement adopted motions, we will discuss that in the cabinet. So I cannot anticipate that.”
The last cabinet meeting of the year will take place on Friday. The fact that the action program is being adopted so late, which means that the House of Representatives no longer has any say in advance, is a result of major divisions in the cabinet.
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