[Diggers350] EU approves controversial Dutch private equity farm buy-out plan to 'cut nitrogen emissions'

[Tony Gosling]

EU approves controversial Dutch farm private 
equity buy-out plan to 'cut nitrogen emissions'

https://tlio.org.uk/eu-backs-dutch-governments-controversial-farm-buyout-plan-to-cut-nitrogen-emissions/

Farmers have protested against the government 
scheme that will offer them 120 per cent of the 
value of their company if they agree to close
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https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/eu-approves-controversial-dutch-farm-buy-out-plan-to-meet-climate-goals/ar-AA1aDs7t

By Joe Barnes, BRUSSELS CORRESPONDENT 2 May 2023

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/02/eu-approves-controversial-dutch-farm-buy-out-plan/

The Netherlands has been given the go-ahead to 
start buying out thousands of farmers’ businesses 
in a bid to meet the European Union mandate on climate goals.

Under the €1.47 billion (£1.3 billion) plan, 
entire farms located near nature reserves could 
be purchased by the government, with hundreds 
more farmers compensated for voluntarily closing their operations.

It forms part of the Hague’s wider strategy for 
slashing nitrogen emissions in half by 2030 to comply with EU targets.

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On Tuesday, the European Commission approved the 
Dutch government’s proposals under the bloc’s state aid rules.

Brussels ruled that the buy-outs would not give 
farmers who receive them an unfair leg-up against 
international competitors on the Single Market and thus violate EU regulations.

Justifying the move earlier this year, 
Christianne van der Wal, minister of nature and 
nitrogen policy, said that the Netherlands had to 
cut nitrogen emissions from farms to build new 
housing and produce green energy.

“There will first have to be nitrogen cuts before 
there is room for new development such as new 
houses and sustainable energy investments. It is 
our economic lockdown,” she said. “My message is 
not the message [farmers] want to hear.”

She has previously described the scheme as “wildly attractive”.

Farmers operating near nature conservation areas 
will be offered 120 per cent of the value of 
their company if they agree to close their 
operations and promise not to restart elsewhere 
in the country or within the EU.

About 3,000 farmers who are considered among the 
country’s highest polluting have been identified under the scheme.

Dairy, pig and poultry farmers will be offered 
100 per cent of their company’s value if they 
agree to close under a similar programme.

Protests from farmers

Dutch farmers have been on a collision course 
with the government for more than a year, while 
it grappled with the consequences of forcing its 
lucrative agricultural industry to cut emissions.

Protests against the climate-change targets have 
often turned violent, with manure and blazing hay 
bales used to block highways and supermarket 
distribution centres, leading to empty shelves on numerous occasions.

In March, Mark Rutte, the long-serving prime 
minister, received a major defeat in the regional 
elections as a farmers’ protest party scored a victory.
At risk of being undercut

Despite its small size, The Netherlands is one of 
the world’s agricultural powerhouses, being only 
second to the United States as a food producer and agricultural exporter.

Its farmers have argued that the new climate 
change rules placed them at risk of being undercut by cheap foreign imports.

They also complained that agriculture was being 
unfairly targeted compared with other polluting sectors such as transport.

The Dutch government has earmarked €25 billion 
(£22 billion) to tackle nitrogen emissions, 
including compulsory buyouts and payments for reducing livestock numbers.

The courts have blocked an increasing number of 
construction projects designed to ease the 
country’s housing crisis until nitrogen levels have been reduced.

‘Improve the environment’

Brussels decided the Dutch plan did not amount to 
a breach of the bloc’s state aid rules, which 
have been significantly loosened as a result of 
the interventions made by European governments during the coronavirus pandemic.

Margrethe Vestager, a vice-president of the 
European Commission, said the plan would lead to 
the “voluntary closure” of those farms most responsible for nitrogen emissions.

“The schemes will improve the environment 
conditions in those areas, and will promote a 
more sustainable and environmentally friendly 
production in the livestock sector, without 
unduly distorting competition,” she said.

The EU’s approval of the scheme, which runs until 
February 2028, will last as long as Dutch farmers 
agree to a “definitive” closure of their operations.

The exact conditions for the buyout scheme will 
be published by the end of the month, with the 
government also exploring targeting other industries amid uproar from farmers.
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