According to SGP MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen, Sinkevicius has “overstepped his bounds” by imposing, among other things, dates and targets on the Netherlands, which, according to Ruissen, are not included in the legislation. “Among other things, he asks if the Netherlands wants to respect 2030 as the year to reduce nitrogen levels, but that is not specified in the Habitats Directive,” he says. “It’s a Dutch choice, so it goes too far.”
Ruissen also thinks that the moment of the letter and the way in which that letter was drafted (in Dutch, ed) can be defined as striking. “This is also one of the reasons we are calling for this debate,” she continues. “We want Sinkevicius to come and explain, and what is the background of the letter.”
The MEP points out that it is by no means certain that the debate will actually take place. Today there will be a vote in the conference of presidents, but the liberals in the European Parliament may be against it. “Let’s hope they support it.”
Result
From the debate, Ruissen mainly hopes to get the nitrogen letter off the table, because he believes the European Commission should go no further than prescribing written directives to member states. “It cannot be the case that the European Commission imposes its hypergreen agenda on a country, while there is no legal basis for doing so.”
“It cannot be that the European Commission imposes its hypergreen agenda on a country, while there is no legal basis for this”
He also believes that the European Commission should keep a more adequate distance from the debate in the Netherlands, certainly in light of the recent election results. “The debate on how it should be conducted further in the Netherlands, given the outcome of the elections, and therefore it would be inappropriate for the European Commission to point fingers and try to impose targets and dates.”
Conversation
Ruissen does not mean at all that there should be no communication with Europe. On the contrary; he believes it is important that talks with Europe continue and that the European Commission is willing to help with the nitrogen problem.
As an example, he cites European Commissioner Frans Timmermans, who visited election winner BoerBurgerBeweging in The Hague. “That in itself is a good thing,” he concludes. «But it must be based on the intention of dictating the guidelines of the legislation. It can go no further.’