Dutch farmers' party thrust into pivotal position

Tue, 21 Mar, 2023 - 11:34

Stephen Cadogan

Dutch-Irish politician Caroline van der Plas has brought her farmers' party to a pivotal position in the Netherlands, on course to win about 16 of the 75 seats in the country's Senate.

The BBB party's win will make it challenging for Prime Minister Mark Rutte's governing coalition to drastically cut nitrogen pollution from farms, which is the single issue on which BBB was founded in 2019.

The Senate can block legislation. Rutte's government has not had a Senate majority since 2019, and had to negotiate deals with mostly left-wing opponents. That becomes harder now, with BBB the biggest party in all 12 provinces.

It is likely to have 16 seats, after provincial councillors vote in senate elections in May. With the Labour and Green Left parties combined likely to have only 15 seats, Rutte's policies may not have sufficient support.

And BBB now significantly strengthens opposition in the 12 provincial assemblies that have to put government environment plans into action, such as forcibly closing (with compensation) 3,000 of the most polluting farms this year.

The Farmer Citizen Movement (Boer Burger Beweging, BBB) came from nowhere to a powerful position in the provincial elections. BBB was set up after widespread farmers' protests began in 2019 against government plans to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030, which could close 30% of livestock farms.

Van der Plas, a former agricultural journalist, won a seat in the House of Representatives in 2021. She arrived at the government buildings in The Hague on a tractor. Her 1% of the vote in the 2021 general election has now grown to 19% for BBB.

“Now is the time to take citizens seriously. I am open to talks with everybody. We are ready," said van der Plas.

Her Irish mother, Nuala Fitzpatrick (aged 84), herself a local politician for many years in the Netherlands, said her daughter is enterprising and enthusiastic. “Of course, you’re also worried about what’s coming at her. I’ve been seeing my daughter more on TV lately than at home," she said.

Caroline van der Plas had to step back from public campaigning last year because of death threats. She was told the same fate awaited her as Pim Fortuyn, a populist leader assassinated days before the 2002 Dutch general election.

Farmers across the EU will take note of BBB's win, but particularly next door in Belgium's Flanders region, where thousands of farmers have protested against the regional government’s plans to limit nitrogen emissions from agriculture. They believe farmers are being asked to take too heavy a burden of anti-pollution measures.

Across Europe, pressure is growing on farmers to cut back for the sake of the environment. Surprisingly, it has come to a head in the Netherlands, where farmers were admired for making the country Europe's predominant agricultural exporter, second globally only to the United States.

But intensive agriculture contributed to pollution in this heavily populated country. Only 1% of the country's waterways have a satisfactory EU standard. And the environmental spotlight has come on nitrogen, an essential building block of life but toxic in large quantities.

After the Netherlands’ highest court shot down the permitting system for nitrogen pollution, construction companies, factories, or farms, can no longer get permission for polluting activities with a promise to make up for it later.

The BBB says the nitrogen problem has been exaggerated and that proposed solutions are unfairly aimed at farmers. However, growing distrust of the government, and anger over issues such as immigration, may have been as important as farmers in helping the new party, because exit polls showed support for BBB across the political spectrum. Van der Plas said people who did not normally vote flocked to the party, with the near 60% voter turnout the highest in a provincial election since 1987.