In the press conference, Rutte and Vijlbrief responded to the tough report of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the course of events related to the Groningen gas drilling. That report was released two months ago, and several people involved were hoping for compensation and recovery. This included chairman Coert Fossen of the Groninger Soil Movement, who said it was “nearly impossible”.
‘straight through the soul’
But it was possible, because the cabinet is now committing 22 billion euros, or 8 billion euros less than what the province initially asked for. Groningen wanted 30 billion euros, regardless of costs for damage repair and reinforcement activities. First the news came out that the government was thinking of 20 billion euros, now it turns out that it is more. A part has already been released.
In its report, the parliamentary committee of inquiry came to the conclusion that for years the government had turned a blind eye to the consequences of gas drilling in Groningen. The financial benefits have outweighed the dire consequences for the people of Groningen, according to the report. The billions of gas ended up in the state coffers. According to Prime Minister Rutte, the personal stories discussed in the report cut “straight to the soul”.
‘What went wrong in sixty years can’t be solved with the stroke of a pen’
‘As a Cabinet, we realize very well that it is our last chance to make it right for Groningen (…) but we cannot reverse what went wrong in the gas extraction. We are determined to do things differently now,” Rutte says during the press conference. “What went wrong in sixty years cannot be fixed with the stroke of a pen.”
“The gas extraction in Groningen will stop, it is the cause of all the misery,” added State Secretary Vijlbrief.