Despite criticism, the Cabinet remains with a nitrogen approach

The cabinet largely stays with its plans for a way out of the nitrogen crisis, despite heavy criticism of the previously leaked plans. However, the government is taking measures to get the granting of permits back on in the short term, measures that have to last at the court.

The joint provinces and nature organizations in particular found the provisional plans too vague and probably insufficient to get the Netherlands ‘from the lock’. The national lawyer also doubted, in an advice to the government, whether the measures would be sufficiently concrete and area -oriented to hold the court. But the cabinet largely stays with its original plans. After the summer, the cabinet wants to present a « new permit system » « based on a better insight into the state of nature and all accompanying printing factors. »

The cabinet also wants to ‘recalibrate’ the Natura2000 areas in the long term. Whether the thousands of projects for which no permit can now be issued because nitrogen is released, from housing to dyke reinforcement, can soon be allowed to get a permit. « The current permit system is no longer sustainable, » the cabinet writes to the House of Representatives.

« Even more sustainability is blocked and walking tours cannot continue, » said the cabinet. « It also leads to millions of economic damage and has a negative effect on the business climate. » The Cabinet hopes to restore the granting of permits by increasing the ‘arithmetic lower limit’ for the emission of nitrogen from 0.005 mol per hectare to 1 mol per hectare, but must first await advice from the Council of State in a few weeks. With that increase in the lower limit, more than 2,500 farmers, so-called PAS servants, would have been legalized in one fell swoop.

Regional approach

A new system in which both farmers and industry and traffic are held in maximum nitrogen emissions must offer a solution in the long term. To also achieve results in the short term, the cabinet opts for ‘a regional approach’. With priority, the Veluwe and the Peel are tackled, two European protected nature reserves « with the most urgent task ». There will be zones of 250 meters around ‘overloaded’ areas where the first measures are taken, such as accelerated reduction of nitrogen emissions.

« It all starts with voluntaryity, » said Prime Minister Schoof about this on Friday after the Council of Ministers. But if not enough nitrogen reduction is achieved, « we must see if a form of urge is needed. » The government also wants to set up trajectory controls for car traffic around vulnerable nature reserves.

Nature organizations respond negatively. There seems to be « no legally sustainable plan », says Natuurmonumenten. « Because the nitrogen emissions are not going down enough, nature cannot recover and the granting for housing and energy transition, for example, does not start, » the organization said in a statement.

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