Fact check: Is the nitrogen crisis costing an ‘exorbitant amount of 25 billion euros’? No, much more | Fact check

The election program of Belang van Nederland in Limburg states: “The nitrogen crisis – the result of the nitrogen policy – ​​is a crisis created on paper. It will cost citizens an exorbitant amount of 25 billion.” Is that last statement correct? Party leader Imke Emons explains the claim by telephone: “Our point is: tax money paid by Limburgers must flow back to Limburgers. Not to nitrogen.”

And that amount of 25 billion euros? According to Emons, this refers to the pot from which provinces can draw to take nitrogen measures, the Transition Fund. This is 24.3 billion, to be exact. The amount of 25 billion is outdated and comes from the coalition agreement of two years ago.

Anyway, it is still unclear whether the amount of 24.3 billion is enough. Only Overijssel has already submitted a ‘offer’ to the cabinet. This province is already asking for 5 billion, including for the buy-out of farmers, but also for the socio-economic consequences of the proposed measures. The lion’s share must come from the Transition Fund.

Other provinces are thinking of comparable amounts, according to a tour of NRC, and are concerned about the available budget. This is a subject of mutual discussion, the Interprovincial Consultation said, although provinces do not have to agree to each other’s application. It should be in The Hague at the end of this year.

Expansion of the fund is not the intention, but also not completely ruled out. “I will do everything I can to achieve the goals with this pot of money. That will be exciting, but I think it is feasible,” said Minister Van der Wal for Nature and Nitrogen on Radio 1.

Yet it does not stop at this 24.3 billion from the Transition Fund. Nitrogen measures can also be paid for by the provinces themselves, or from other national funds such as the Climate Fund. Van der Wal made this known in response to parliamentary questions about Overijssel’s application.

Read more below the photo

Moreover, the nitrogen crisis is also constantly costing other sectors money. According to a calculation by the Financieel Dagblad last October, the damage to the Dutch economy at that time was already 28 billion euros.

This includes deferred housing construction, which, according to this calculation, has cost about 6 billion euros. “But: if you don’t build those homes, then of course you don’t have to incur the costs of building those homes,” says Taco van Hoek, director of the Economic Institute for Construction. “So the missed production is not a complete loss.”

Meanwhile, new decisions also cost money. Take the disappearance of the ‘building exemption’, which allowed building to continue during the nitrogen crisis. As a result, the construction of one in ten homes is delayed, 3 billion euros in production in this sector is lost and hundreds of millions more are added in costs. “And then there is the infrastructure,” says Van Hoek. “The problems there are bigger than housing, is our expectation.”

BVNL’s claim that the nitrogen crisis will cost citizens 25 billion is untrue. The final damage amount will be much higher. The Transition Fund is not the only money that can be spent on measures. In addition, the costs for the Dutch economy, for example due to postponed housing construction, continue to rise.