Johan Remkes regrets the misunderstanding that has arisen about a list of farms that emit the most nitrogen, the so-called peak loaders. The mediator said on Sunday on the Buitenhof TV program that the Ministry of Agriculture would have such a list.
But according to that ministry, that list of the heaviest detractors doesn’t exist at all. There would only be an anonymous analysis of the data that would calculate how many companies would have to stop to reach the nitrogen goals,
The responsible minister, Christianne Van der Wal, said on Tuesday that she regretted that the image has now emerged that her ministry knows which companies they should stop, relocate or change. “Because this once again brings unrest to the farmers. They think: would that be me?”, She replied to NOS.
Remkes then went through the dust. “I was wrong to assume that there was a list of peak loaders, as indicated in the report. If the minister indicates that this is not the case, then he is absolutely right, because it will depend on the choices still to be made by the cabinet. I regret the misunderstanding caused from my statements, “he said.
In its last week published report Johan Remkes advised putting an end to nitrogen emissions from the largest 500-600 peak loaders as soon as possible. The cabinet will provide an initial response to the report on Friday.
The prime minister and ministers have breakfast with the farmers’ leaders
Ahead of that response, Prime Minister Rutte and Ministers Van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) and Adema (Agriculture) will speak with a group of farmer leaders over breakfast at The Hague Catshuis on Wednesday morning. Representatives of various farmers’ organizations were invited to the meeting, confirmed Rutte’s spokesman.
The Farmers Defense Force (FDF) action group announced on Tuesday that they would be joining the breakfast. “We have decided that we will all go there,” said FDF leader Mark van den Oever. He drew in advance some “red lines” in nitrogen policy that he and his supporters “will not and never cross now”. Forced expropriation or the withdrawal of permits from farms that emit a lot of nitrogen in nature reserves remain out of the question for FDF.
