He believes that no progress has been made since former agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer’s “disappointing outlook letter” in the past year. However, the coalition speaks of “handles” in the current draft agreement. “And the D66 was attacked for it,” Beekman says. “Even from the SP.”
“The opposition believes there has been no progress”
The PS denounces the way in which the coalition defines the lack of perspective, and speaks of a scandal. “It is a scandal that one in three farmers are below the poverty line and the Cabinet has not yet started providing an answer to ensure people can farm sustainably and make money from it.”
breath
But the sharp tones of the debate will not easily lead to commitments, thinks Beekman, who spoke today with Adema. “First we have to hold the conversation in the lavatory,” Adema told Beekman. ‘Furthermore, I will enter into discussions with the parties. But we will not make a new agricultural policy today, we will do it in the coming months. So we will make few promises.’
However, Adema defines “nice to have the conversation” as looking back at why the conversation should be held and what the future holds. Beekman: ‘When you hear Adema like this, it seems like they’re going to talk a bit about how things went wrong at the head table.’
Plan B
Another often-heard point of criticism is the fact that there was no plan B, says Beekman. “Especially from PvdA and the Party for the Animals,” he says. “Today Minister Adema will answer, but Minister Van der Wal will also speak”.