The government hopes that the sector can reach an agreement on a more sustainable future in spring 2023. “If it doesn’t work, the cabinet itself will take the lead and determine what the future of agriculture looks like,” explains political journalist Leendert Beekman. Yet there is still little hope of improvement from the House of Representatives with the new agriculture minister.
Laura Bromet, MEP for GroenLinks, was particularly skeptical. You said you saw three different ministers in the file, all with different plans. ‘Carola Schouten, the Prime Minister of Agriculture, has always thought about circular agriculture, without explaining what she is. The second minister proposed a prospect letter, but it never arrived. And now there is talk of an agricultural agreement,’ says Beekman. The only problem is that there is little clarity on what the agriculture deal should look like.
Adema says the deal should provide a ‘vision for 2040′ on agriculture. “Must be a cloud on the horizon. (…). It is sustainable agriculture, based on a cycle and developed through various transitional paths.’ Furthermore, the minister calls for low-emission systems, a better income model with “social functions” and for farmers to take more responsibility for the landscape.
Many tables and many polders
There are fears that the settlement must arise out of a huge amount of poldering. This is also evident from the fact that the organizations that have to negotiate it are divided over all the different ‘tables’. “Adema has been talking about main table, partial table, expert table, sector table, reflection table, green pact table (with young people) and then the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency is also looking at,” summarizes Beekman. ‘All tables are ultimately equally important. You can imagine that everyone wants to sit at that head table, but according to Adema, that’s not necessary. There are many tables where all ideas must eventually reach agreement.’
Last Monday there was the first meeting, in which agreements on the process were reached. The agricultural organization LTO later said that participation only makes sense if there is a real prospect for farmers who want to continue their business. The organization wants to “focus on earning power, room to do business and associated investment opportunities.”