14 October 2019 - 11:00
At the end of September we reported that the Remkes Committee had published a number of recommendations for the nitrogen problem in the Netherlands. Soon after this, farmers decided to make their way to The Hague to make their voices heard. There appears to be huge support for the farmers from society.
Minister Schouten from Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality published the proposed approach for the nitrogen problem on Friday 4th October. We note that the Remkes Committee’s recommendation to introduce area-specific measures has been adopted. However, we have also noted that there are many uncertainties in the proposed approach, which lead to unrest in the sector and, in particular, among farmers.
There is a lack of clarity especially in relation to whether or not to take up production rights (animal and phosphate rights) when applying external balancing, skimming ammonia space during external balancing and not being allowed to use previously licensed ammonia space when applying for new permits. This, among other things, underlines the importance of the discussion - about how to arrive at sustainable solutions for the Netherlands as a whole and for our sector in particular - being conducted based on generally accepted facts.