CDA party chairman Pieter Heerma could not explain it very clearly, Tuesday afternoon at the entrance of the large debating chamber in the House of Representatives. The CDA, he said, wants “an adjustment” to the nitrogen plans that the cabinet presented on Friday. That sounded firm. The CDA is a government party and therefore jointly responsible. The fact that one of the coalition factions had started talking about adjustments could be the start of a political crisis.
The soup does not seem to be eaten that hot. Because when Heerma had to explain what exactly his party wanted to change, it turned out that a large part of his objections were already in the plans of the cabinet.
Heerma had started about ‘feelings’ among CDA members and also about ‘the image’ that had arisen, ‘for example in De Peel, that entire agricultural areas are being wiped off the map’. A map of the Netherlands was printed in Friday’s cabinet letter, showing the nitrogen targets per region: in some agricultural areas, emissions must be reduced by up to 70 percent.
The CDA, said Heerma, wants all sectors to make a contribution, to give provinces room for ‘customization’ and to focus more on innovation. But the former is already stated in the coalition agreement that the four government parties concluded in December and in the nitrogen plans that the cabinet presented on Friday. Those plans also already provide for the second (customization).
For innovation, the government has released 10 percent of the nitrogen fund that has been set up, which amounts to a total of 25 billion euros. The provinces still have more than a year to decide for themselves which measures they want to introduce in which region.
Unrest in the CDA
The CDA does not want to change the most important thing, that the nitrogen targets are achieved. At the bottom of the line there was little left of Heerma’s objections, no more than a party leader who wanted to reassure his concerned supporters by letting them know that the Christian Democrats stand up for the Dutch farmers.
This is necessary, because the nitrogen targets for provinces that were devised by ministers Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen, VVD) and Henk Staghouwer (Agriculture, ChristenUnie) are causing a lot of unrest in the CDA. Because they have major consequences for ranchers, and also because these policies affect a large part of the party’s electorate, often living in non-urban areas. It is not without reason that Heerma also said on Tuesday that the nitrogen targets must be achieved, but only if “everyone can experience it without destroying the social cohesion in the rural area”.
laconic
Members of the VVD are also concerned; a majority on Saturday supported a motion at the party congress calling on the House of Representatives faction not to support the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. Van der Wal and party leader Sophie Hermans then said that the nitrogen targets must be achieved in any case.
The fact that Heerma sounded sharper about it on Tuesday than the VVD was received laconically by the other coalition parties, who had not been informed in advance by Heerma about his party’s objections. The party leaders of VVD, D66 and ChristenUnie emphasized that the most important thing for them was that the nitrogen targets would be achieved – and the CDA still supported that. They are also still thinking about the how question, they said. The House of Representatives will debate this next week.
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