The European Commission has approved a plan presented by the Dutch government to buy out thousands of farmers in order to meet the EU’s Natura 2000 goals of supposedly protecting the environment.
The scheme would offer farmers 120% of the value of their farms and could close around 3,000 “high-emitting” farms. The Dutch government also has a proposal to offer dairy, pig and poultry farmers a deal for 100% of the value of their farms if they decide to close.
The EU’s Natura 2000 plan aims to reduce nitrogen emissions, but could have a major impact on the Dutch agricultural industry, one of the most productive in Europe. The government hopes to set aside €1.4 billion for farm closure schemes.
The Dutch government’s proposal is not final, as the purchase scheme must be managed at provincial level. The government faces opposition from the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), which in March became the largest party in the Dutch Senate. There have also been doubts from the CDA party within Prime Minister Mark Rutte Rutte’s coalition after the BBB’s surprise victory.
The Citizen-Farmer Movement party, now the largest party in the Dutch Senate, has questioned whether the Rutte government was exaggerating the EU’s intransigence on the issue of exceeding nitrogen fertilizer limits. Party leader Caroline van der Plas plans to meet EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans to discuss the political implications of the scheme.
Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that an unelected Eurocrat, Diederik Samsom, advised Rutte’s government to press ahead with plans to enact forced buy-outs from farmers in exchange for more EU “flexibility” on regulations.
The EU-backed policy of forcing farmers to sell their land under government-backed compulsory purchase orders and plans to cut farm nitrogen emissions by 50% to 95% have sparked protests across the country
Most controversially, the EU plan would also ban Dutch farmers from fleeing to any other EU member to open another farm.
Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek said of an EU statement: “The EU has given the Dutch government the green light to buy 3,000 Dutch farmers offering 120% of market value, ‘incentivizing’ them to ‘volunteer’ ( if they do, they will be expropriated later).
“Oh, and they won’t be allowed to start over anywhere else in the EU,” he said.
The EU has given the green light to the Dutch government to buy 3,000 #DutchFarmers by offering them 120% of market value, “incentivizing” them to sell “voluntarily” (if they don’t, they will be expropriated later).
Oh, and they won’t be allowed to start over anywhere else in the EU. pic.twitter.com/iuj220PEjK
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) May 2, 2023
“This is how they do it: they put a knife to the farmers’ throats,” Vlaardingerbroek added. “They’re making sure their licenses aren’t renewed, they’re plaguing them with new rules and restrictions every day and then offering them a bride, knowing that many will take it out of sheer desperation. It’s all so vile.”
“I also very much doubt that banning them from restarting elsewhere in the EU is even legal. The whole idea of the EU was supposed to be about freedom of movement and freedom of workers. These are some things about Next-level USSR,” he said.
“*” Indicates mandatory fields
OPINION: This article contains comments that reflect the opinion of the author.
English 
Español de Venezuela