Minister Van der Wal does not want to leave PAS journalists who now have a pending sanction, ‘in the open’, but the cabinet is not cooperating for the moment. There is still no concrete plan because there are still financial, political and legal difficulties.
No concrete plan yet
In a telephone conversation from the official car, the minister wanted to say how he can help these entrepreneurs, and others who may find themselves in a similar situation in the future. But for now he remains with compassionate words and his promise to “do everything possible not to leave these farmers out in the cold.” He wants to come up with concrete plans as soon as possible.
Three farmers in Overijssel are victims of the government’s failed policy, agrees the minister: they are companies that have been unjustly denied a permit and are now having to (significantly) downsize their farms, or have to pay a fine of tens of thousands of euros , rising to more than a ton. “It’s terrible,” sighs the minister. The province Overijssel asked for help from The Hague last weekbecause they see no other choice but to ask for the payment of penalties.
Research all options
For the moment, he doesn’t have a solution to get farmers out of their uncertain situation: “We’re now working on it fully in the cabinet, looking at all options.” He can’t say what these options are: “I don’t want to give farmers false hope. I will make the most of it, but I also want to be careful. We should not make decisions that later turn out to be impossible or that are not legally tenable.”
For example, can the government pay the fine to the province to prevent a farmer from having to dispose of part of his livestock? Minister Van der Wal does not want to say anything about it: “I can very popularly say what is possible, but if I am not sure whether it is possible, the uncertainty remains with these people.” Furthermore, this is not a long-term solution, as long as such an entrepreneur does not have a permit, he will continue to face the threat of a fine.
The minister wants as soon as possible a nitrogen space for these farmers, PAS journalists and temporary workers, who are companies without a PAS report that don’t even have a nature permit because it was not necessary under the previous policy. In this order of priority: “We are doing it step by step,” said the minister.
For the legalization of all PAS journalists, Van der Wal refers to the expected letter to the House of Representatives on November 25, when he will fill in many loose ends of the nitrogen dossier.
Protest action
Overijssel farmers have planned a protest at the provincial government building in Zwolle for Wednesday. They ask for a solution for PAS detectors, in the short term. King’s Commissioner Andries Heidema and Deputies Tijs de Bree (enforcement) and Gert Harm ten Bolscher (agriculture) will speak to a delegation of five farmers, according to the province of Overijssel. The action The farmers want a solution from the province by December 5, ‘otherwise, they will return in a less friendly way’, according to the message that the farmers exchanged in their call for protest.
