Amsterdam, May 2, (dpa/GNA) – The European Commission gave permission on Tuesday for the Dutch government to buy out livestock farmers producing excessive nitrogen compounds in a programme totalling €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion).
The government plans to buy out around 3,000 livestock operations held responsible for polluting nature conservation areas with nitrogen emissions, offering farmers up to 120% of the value of the market value of their operations.
Other farmers causing lower harmful emissions will receive up to 100% of the market value of their farms.
The move aims to resolve a long-running conflict.
“Under the schemes, the beneficiaries guarantee that the closure of their production capacity is definitive and irreversible, and that they will not start the same breeding activity elsewhere in the Netherlands or within the EU,” the commission said.
It described the two schemes as “necessary and appropriate to improve the environmental conditions of the targeted areas.”
Dutch nature conservation areas have been hit by pollution caused by ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O), with livestock farming a major contributor to ammonia in particular.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government aims to halve the emissions by 2030. This would mean shutting down 30% of livestock farms.
Farmers have protested against the measures for months, blocking roads with tractors and dumping waste, and putting the government under pressure.
The right-wing populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), formed only in 2019, won the provincial elections in March, dealing a severe blow to Rutte’s centre-right coalition.
GNA