The exception was not waived on the basis of the proposed expansion policy. This was stated by outgoing Agriculture Minister Pete Adema on Wednesday afternoon in a discussion following media reports on the conversation held by farmers' organizations in Brussels on Tuesday. European Commission agrees.
Agrakti, NMV and LTO I mentioned after the conversation Former Agriculture Minister Henk Stagwer questioned whether the exception was still necessary, because the government planned to focus heavily on expansion. So Cor Béric (BBB) wanted to know during Adéma's nitrogen debate on Wednesday afternoon whether his predecessor's efforts were aimed at expansion rather than maintaining the exception. Tom Van Campen (VVD) was also interested in whether the Minister saw the same room as farmer organizations to negotiate the exclusion decision.
Adema cannot judge whether the media reports are true or not, because he was not present in the conversation. He's giving a lecture on this process. According to him, the statement that the exception has been waived is incorrect in any case. “There were two options: derogation or the current form. This was the subject of intense negotiations with the European Commission. Prime Minister Mark Rutte was involved in the matter,” the minister explains.
Agreements on land ties
The seventh nitrate action programme, which the government submitted to Brussels, turned out to be insufficient. Adema: “On this basis, the European Commission said that additional measures are still necessary. It has been added via an appendix. It stipulates that dairy farming should be land-based by 2032.”
The exception decision was then negotiated on the basis of the European Nitrate Directive (which stipulates that 170 kg of nitrogen from animal manure per hectare can be spread per hectare, ed.). Taking into account the agreements on land in 2032 and the sustainability of agriculture from the Nitrates and Additions Directive, the European Commission is willing to grant the Netherlands another exception with a phase-out path. “That is what happened, so enlargement was discussed, but not as has been announced now, which would have abandoned the exception on the basis of enlargement. The plans contained in the coalition agreement have been handed over to the organization,” Adema says firmly.
There is no space
Farmer organizations point out that there is scope within European rules. Adema must disappoint the House. “Based on the conversations I've had, I can assure you that the European Commission leaves no room for derogation, partial derogation, grassland derogation, land farm derogation. It's all unmentionable. It's all about water quality.”
According to the minister, this is still not enough. “It is no coincidence that we have identified sixty percent of the Netherlands as a polluted area based on recent measurements from 2021.”
The concept of anxiety
Adema learned that the farmers traveled to Brussels to speak with a delegation from the European Commission. “If you are at a loss and do not know whether you will still exist financially and commercially next year because of the costs you are incurring, you take advantage of everything and you may hear things in conversations that are not there. It can be possible and I understand that. But, in conversations and personal connections that I did it, I didn't hear any scope. So I don't want to give farmers false hope, because if I said there was scope, the committee would point out that the water quality has to be sound first and then we can start the conversation again Brussels.”
Customization
Perrick points out the exception in Ireland. Farmers there are allowed to spread 220 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare this year, instead of the 170 kilograms stipulated in the European nitrate directive. The BBB'er wants to know if this is also possible in the Netherlands. Suppose a group of Dutch farmers have “taken substantial steps” to improve water quality, and they can prove this through measurements. Could the government then go to Brussels to request a new exception? Perek asks the minister.
According to Adema, this similarity cannot be drawn with the Netherlands, because the water quality in Ireland is good, in contrast to our country. The minister says: “This is clear from the measurements there.”
Adema also raised the issue of allocation with the European Commission, using land-based dairy farmers from a peat meadow area with 1.9 cattle units per hectare as a practical example. “On average, the water quality on these farms is better than that on non-blocked farms. This has to do with the amount of grassland. I have also raised this with the European Commission. I have exhausted all the options I put on the table, because I have been repeatedly told that The Authority does not want to do that. The Commissioner wants to comply with European legislation (Nitrates Directive, ed.).”
“The decision to exclude was carefully agreed upon.”
The European Commission supports Adema's account that the agreements on enlargement arose from the Seventh Program of Action and the Annex.
In an initial response to the conversation with farmer organizations, a government spokesperson said that the agreements regarding the exceptional status for 2022 were carefully agreed with the government. “Knowing that the exception decision would help the Netherlands shift towards intensive agriculture. The exceptional situation was supposed to give the sector enough time to make this change. In addition, there was a commitment from the Netherlands to work on creating a fully land-based dairy sector.” Then the exception will not be necessary.”
The obligations and the phase-out path were also mentioned in the exception decision. “So that the Netherlands can gradually meet the requirements of the Nitrates Directive by the end of 2025,” the spokesman said.
The Spokesperson will soon provide a more detailed response to the conversation between farmer organizations and a delegation from the European Commission on the exception.
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