Can it be a bit cheaper, asks outgoing minister Christianne van der Wal (Stikstof, VVD) to the provinces. Next week, the nitrogen minister will talk to deputies to “make it known” that the plans of the provinces to reduce nitrogen emissions cost too much money, she says in Monday The Telegraph. All plans together cost about 58 billion euros, much more than the 24.3 billion that the outgoing cabinet wants to spend.
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The cabinet asked the provinces to make it clear from 1 July how they will reduce nitrogen emissions and how much this would cost. “The provinces have certainly looked at how they can reduce nitrogen as quickly as possible, but there are also wishes and gifts about quality of life and changes in areas,” says a spokesman for Van der Wal. First, Van der Wal enters into the conversation “in a friendly way”, if that does not work, the cabinet would also have the option of enforcing that the plans cost less money.
Cabinet trap
It is not yet certain whether the 24.3 billion euros will actually be realised. The House of Representatives approved the establishment of the nitrogen fund in May, but the Senate has not yet done so. On June 27, a week and a half before the fall of the Rutte IV cabinet, wrote Van der Wal told the House of Representatives that she wants to make money from the nitrogen fund available to the provinces “as soon as possible in 2024”.
“That amount is adjusted downwards rather than upwards due to the financial situation of our country,” says Van der Wal The Telegraph. The cabinet fall has also made it more uncertain. The size of the fund is, according to the minister’s spokesman, “a subject for the formation table”.
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