According to Agriculture Minister Piet Adema, there was a “95% version” of the deal. Documents released on Friday show there was still disagreement about the number of cows a farmer can have per hectare of pasture. It was also stated, among other things, that the cabinet had 13.5 billion euros at its disposal and that livestock would be reduced by around 25 percent. Now that no deal has been reached, the cabinet itself will take action. That package should be there in September.
Do not breathe in danger
For the moment it doesn’t seem that Adema has to fear for his job. The coalition parties praise him for his commitment. Their irritation centers precisely on the LTO. Team leader Sjaak van der Tak said after consultations with the government that there was no trust, something coalition sources do not understand. But there are no reproaches from the coalition against Adema.
Even the opposition does not seem to aim its arrows at the Adema, but above all at the CDA. Opposition parties would have liked to see Prime Minister Mark Rutte and CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra join the debate as well as Adema and Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal. Because although Hoekstra was not at the agricultural talks table, he above all has something to explain to the opposition.
CDA
The CDA wants to renegotiate the government’s nitrogen policy, but there should have been an agriculture deal first. It is unclear when the party will want to negotiate further: Hoekstra said he would not talk about it again before the summer, as he previously promised, but that he would talk about it before the cabinet presents its agricultural plans.
Meanwhile, opposition parties are quickly demanding clarity from Hoekstra. They find it irresponsible that the party has allowed uncertainty to hang over politics in The Hague for so long. But Rutte and Hoekstra are both abroad on Thursday and the coalition parties do not want to postpone the debate. The opposition will therefore have to settle for Adema and Van der Wal.
Agricultural demonstration
The farmers’ organization Farmers Defense Force (FDF) is demonstrating today from 12:00 in The Hague. It is unclear how many people will participate in the protest. The Hague municipality does not expect farmers to flock to the actual city, but FDF foreman Mark van den Oever previously said he expected thousands. He invited them to come to the city with tractors.
The protest is from 12pm and the program will start at 1pm with Van den Oever as the first speaker. Several MPs also spoke during the protest, including Caroline van der Plas of the BBB and Wybren van Haga of BVNL. Protesters can follow the debate in the House of Representatives live from the website. The program ends at 5.00pm.
During the previous protest in The Hague’s Zuiderpark in March, farmers trying to enter The Hague with their tractor were stopped by the police. Only two tractors could be present at that protest.