Gov't "apprehensive" to weaken nitrogen plan after heated debate; PRO provides majority
The Cabinet is “apprehensive” about making adjustments to its new nitrogen plans after various opposition parties, particularly on the right, argued for changes to mitigate the consequences for the agricultural sector. PRO promised to support the plan, but only if the minority Cabinet does not weaken it. The left-wing party described the government’s plan as the bare minimum, NOS reports.
With PRO’s support, the Jetten I Cabinet’s plan has a parliamentary majority of 86 of the 150 seats. A few additional seats will be required in the Senate, but those can likely be found with the PvdD, SP, or Volt.
Key points of the nitrogen plan include up to 46 percent less emissions from agriculture, 50 percent less emissions from mobility and industry, and no more than 2.6 cows per hectare by 2035. The Cabinet also wants to introduce nitrogen-low zones of 1 kilometer around 15 vulnerable nature reserves, and nitrogen-low zones of 500 meters around 85 other nature reserves. €20 billion will be reserved to support farmers and improve nature management.
The measures will be painful, certainly for the agriculture sector, and the Cabinet and coalition parties D66, VVD, and CDA acknowledge this. But there is no other way, they argued during the parliamentary debate that went well past midnight, with concerned farmers sitting in the public gallery.
After years of failing government policy, action must be taken now, the Cabinet said. The “nitrogen lock” that has been in place for years must be lifted so that permits can be issued for housing and infrastructure construction.
Agriculture Minister Jaimi van Essen is therefore “apprehensive” of weakening any of the measures, because this would prevent the Netherlands from achieving the necessary nitrogen targets, he said in the debate. “It is a coherent whole, and parts of the package cannot be weakened without consequences,” Van Esse said.
PRO agreed to provide the Cabinet the support it needs, but only on the condition that the plan not be “watered down” in any way. “I warn you in advance,” said PRO MP Laura Bromet to CDA MP Jan Arie Korveraar, who was wondering about possible alternatives. “This plan must not be watered down.” The proposals are the bare minimum, and PRO is only supporting the plan because something needs to happen after years of delay and the “perfect plan simply does not exist,” Bromet said.
Right-wing parties, including BBB, ChristenUnie, Groep Markuszower, and the SGP, criticized PRO’s stance. ChristenUnie MP Pieter Grinwis said the left-wing party was being a dictator and was “mortgaging this discussion.” Hidde Heutink of Groep Markuszower said that PRO was “destroying the farming community.” And BBB MP Caroline van der Plas said PRO was trying to get rid of all livestock. These parties want the Cabinet to relax the limit on cows and the nitrogen-low zones, among other things.
“We are allowed to have our own opinions and do not need to be immediately branded as dictators,” Bromet said in response. She added that the Cabinet is free to seek support from other opposition parties, but without PRO if it weakens the nitrogen policy in any way.
Looking for support on the right will be complicated. The BBB, PVV, Groep Markuszower, SGP, and MP Mona Keijzer are all dead set against nitrogen restrictions, agreeing with angry farmers that the plans are “a fatal blow” for the sector. JA21 might support the plans, but also pushed for relaxing the limit on cows per hectare and the 1-kilometer nitrogen-low zones.
