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What will happen to the nitrogen policy? The BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) has won such a big victory in all provinces that something has to be done. At least that’s what the CDA part of the firm thinks, at D66 they think differently.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke of a “well done to The Hague”, he said during his weekly press conference after the Council of Ministers. “We have to do something about it.”
But Rutte did not want to say what exactly: “Let’s wait for the college education.
At D66, they don’t really want to hear about any delays or adjustments to nitrogen plans. The party wants to hurry. Nature is deteriorating too fast and houses have to be built, they say. Party leader Sigrid Kaag kept a low profile today.
“You can’t go on without consequence”
The government is therefore faced with a complex question. During his press conference, Rutte dismissed it as follows: the parties must have “the space to express themselves” around the elections.
Only the CDA goes much further than expressing itself. “We cannot go on like this and act as if nothing has happened,” CDA chief Wopke Hoekstra said on Friday before heading to the Council of Ministers.
Hoekstra thinks politicians in The Hague should take note of this landslide. “You can’t go on without consistency on content and style. You have to take that into account.” Hoekstra also did not want to say what should change here.
Rutte sought space in what Johan Remkes had previously advised the cabinet. Namely, that in very exceptional cases, provinces may slightly increase the nitrogen target for 2030.
CDA finds it increasingly difficult to defend its nitrogen policy
BBB has become the largest of the twelve provinces and will take the lead in negotiations on the formation of provincial governments. The party does this by demanding that farmers not be expropriated and that the acceleration desired by the cabinet not be considered.
The CDA has ears on this, it seems. The party has received a considerable blow in the Provincial Council elections and is struggling with the politics of nitrogen.
On the one hand, the signing of the Christian Democrats within the framework of the coalition agreement, in which the nitrogen target is advanced. The party agreed to the plan to buy back the farmers if necessary.
But CDA members are finding it increasingly difficult to defend this policy. Last summer, Hoekstra called the nitrogen policy “unsacred.”
According to the firm, the takeover and possible expropriation are necessary to create a so-called nitrogenous space. This in turn can be used to enhance nature, build houses and help PAS detectors. These are contractors who have an invalid license through no fault of their own.
“I do not find anything”
Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal issued a warning to the provinces on election night: “You can’t say you won’t implement a nitrogen policy, but you can build houses. You have to make choices.
After much criticism of this statement, Van der Wal would not say more on Friday. “I can’t find anything,” was his response. This shows how sensitive this subject is.
The provinces have a lot of leeway for their own policy, but they have to comply with the law. If the provincial governments do not do this, the cabinet can ignore this administrative layer and implement the policy itself.
But this is mostly a theoretical and virtually unachievable reality, Geerten Boogaard, a specially appointed professor for decentralized governments at Leiden University, told NU.nl on Thursday.
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