NSC pushes agriculture minister to meet environmental group’s demands; BBB furious

The NSC wants the agriculture minister, Femke Wiersma, to agree to the demands of the environmental organization MOB, member of parliament Harm Holman said during a parliamentary debate about emissions. One of the demands is that farmers have to balance the number of animals they have with the amount of land they own. The NSC is joining GroenLinks-PvdA in this.

Holman, an MP for the NSC, has been critical of BBB member Wiersma’s policies for a while, but this is the first time that he has taken action because of it. He wants Wiersma to speak to the MOB about policies that meet the wishes of the environmental organization.

Caroline van der Plas (BBB) is furious with her coalition partner Holman. She views NSC’s stance as a breach of the coalition agreements. “The coalition agreement says there will be no direct push to shrink the livestock herd, but there will be a focus on promoting land-based farming.”

She blames Holman for going along with the “blackmail” of the MOB and thinks he is abandoning farmers by doing so. The NSC member responded to this by saying that he is “trying his best to find a solution for their problems.”

D66 and Partij voor de Dieren are happy with the NSC’s position. PvdD MP Ines Kostic asked Holman whether he would withdraw his support for Wiersma if she failed to present adequate policy. He refused to go to these lengths. The NSC will submit a bill for land-based livestock farming. Holman is trying to set a good example by doing this. “The minister, along with her 2,000 civil servants, has not produced a single bill yet,” he said.

Former coalition party VVD previously joined the NSC in criticizing Wiersma during the debates. However, VVD parliament member Wim Meulenkamp did not support Holman in this debate. Meulenkamp wants Wiersma to produce a good package of measures in September, as was agreed upon in a motion. “So that we can move past the nitrogen bottleneck as quickly as possible.”

MOB is willing to drop its lawsuits against PAS reporters if their demands are met. PAS reporters are companies, mostly farms, that didn’t need permits before but now find themselves operating illegally. If they lose the court case, these companies will have to either shut down or make big cuts.