Flevoland has been trying to coordinate the farmers buy-out with Schiphol

• Thomas Spekschoor

  Journalist

The province of Flevoland may have been guilty of trying to form a buying cartel. This is evident from the documents the province itself has put online in the context of the Open Government Act (WOO) and the conversations NOS has had with lawyers about it.

The province wanted to coordinate with Schiphol with which farmers would negotiate the purchase of farms due to the nitrogen space that would be released as a result. Such an agreement may reduce the price and is not allowed.

In an email, a provincial official says farmers could “talk to different nitrogen applicants and then raise the price. These are market forces and [er is] there’s not always something to do about it, but it can be helpful to coordinate all of this.”

Commissioner Harold Hofstra (ChristenUnie) from the province of Flevoland says in a response that the province has asked this question just to find out what is happening in this area of ​​the province. But according to the lawyers who spoke to NOS, Flevoland shouldn’t interfere in buying farms in this way, because there is no longer a fair market for farmers who want to sell their farm.

“Coordination between the parties is prohibited by competition law,” says Professor Pieter Kuypers of Radboud University. “Both parties here are buyers of nitrogen rights and therefore are acting as a company. So you have to comply with competition law.”

Schiphol needs space for nitrogen in order to open Lelystad airport. Had it been at Schiphol, commercial flights should have taken off and landed there a long time ago, but they didn’t, partly due to issues with the nitrogen permit.

If Schiphol buys the farmers, it can use the nitrogen space those farmers used for its airports permit. It was previously announced that the company would acquire farmers in North Holland, South Holland and Utrecht, with the permission of Schiphol itself.

The provinces are angry with these purchases from Schiphol, because they also want to buy farms themselves, for example to build infrastructure projects or to legalize farmers without permits. The WOO documents show that the province of Flevoland mainly sought to find space for nitrogen for the construction of a port near Urk.

In order not to drive up the price endlessly, coordination may seem useful to civil servants, but it’s not allowed, says Attorney Kuypers. “Often civil servants seem to think that the competition law only applies to companies, but governments also have to respect it when they are engaged in economic activities. Whether it is a municipality, a province or a water company.”

The province of Flevoland claims that they have never attempted to lower the price with the above email. “We are area managers in Flevoland,” says deputy Hofstra. “So we also consult with the parties to ask: What are your plans? What are you working on? And in that context we also send that email to Schiphol Group.”

However, he acknowledges that the province also wanted to keep costs in check. “Farmers have the right to get a good price for their farm. But it’s also about the government money we use. An appropriate question. We don’t want to spend government money unnecessarily.”

He rejects the fact that the lawyers consider this to be an illegal influence on the price. “I’m not a lawyer, but I disagree. I understand that professors may think the suggestion has been made, but read what’s in the email again.”

The published emails illustrate a dilemma provincial administrators struggle with. On the one hand, they don’t want to pay too much because governments are bidding against each other. On the other hand, farmers are entitled to a fair price for their nitrogen rights, which they do not get if they make deals or exchange information behind their backs.

Ultimately, no such agreement was made between Schiphol and the province of Flevoland. In a reply to the province, an airport employee said there were no talks with farmers in Flevoland at the time. However, the lawyers say, Flevoland’s proposal alone is against the law. According to them, this may be enough for the ACM regulator to launch an investigation.