“Sjaak, Wopke, and Father Time: The Politics of Nitrogen in The Netherlands”

But Sjaak and Wopke know Father Time on their side

It is abundantly clear that no one, except Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag, believed in the promised ‘acceleration’ of the nitrogen dossier that we received at the end of March. was predicted. Good proof of this are the events on the Ockenburgh estate last week. After a day and a night of negotiations, it became clear that there was no Agricultural Agreement for the time being. The matter will be continued sometime next month.

In the meantime, Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema (CU) wrote to the House of Representatives that there are now figures on the table that can be viewed by the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the Louis Bolk (WHO?) Institute. Not acceleration, but deceleration.

The farmers and negotiator LTO in particular have the wind in their favor for the time being. Reason why foreman Sjaak van der Tak (CDA) armored tweets if this can send. The stakes are clear: he wants to get the most out of it. The Rotterdammer knows that time works in his favor. “Like I told you so many times before/ You’re gonna come back, baby”, sang a beatnik band a little over 60 years ago al.

Also Wopke Hoekstra knows Father Time on his side; As promised, the Christian Democrats will not break open the coalition agreement in terms of nitrogen target of 2030 until the new provincial councils are in place and an agricultural agreement has been reached. This means that CDA and LTO have the cabinet in a hold for the time being: if the government does not meet the farmers, Hoekstra can still pull the plug from the cabinet. A pleasant position because in this case the who breaks pays adage does not apply. Farmers, citizens and builders are now done with the nitrogen clamp that has gripped the country. Whoever puts an end to this will undoubtedly be able to count on the favor of the voter.

A sad picture that – just like that scale fried avocado – sticks.