Early in July, the Cabinet announced that additional measures were needed to prevent local deterioration. 150 million euros have been allocated for this. More farmers who want to stop their businesses can use this money. More money will also be earmarked for cleaner engines for inland vessels, outgoing Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture) wrote to the House of Representatives.
The minister says more will be needed in the coming years and is based on previously prepared nitrogen reports from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, RIVM and Wageningen University. In the short term, Scotten says, more is needed. But for now, Schuten does not want to make difficult choices for the coming years because she is resigning and this should be discussed first in the line-up. However, it begins an ‘integrated’ and ‘area-oriented’ approach, in which equal attention is paid to improving water and soil conditions.
Facing different demands and rules
“In the proposed approach — by tackling several tasks at the same time — entrepreneurs are prevented from being repeatedly confronted with different requirements and rules,” Schouten says. What to do as it varies greatly from region to region. This depends, for example, on soil conditions, subsoil type, water condition or proximity to nature reserves.
“Options for an area-oriented approach and agricultural sector reform in particular are having an impact, particularly in rural areas,” Schouten says. “The new government will have to make basic choices. The degree of support in the transition to sustainable business operations is an important pillar in this regard. The transformation requires care, as craftsmanship and entrepreneurship must be used in the agricultural sector.”
