There is no doubt that BoerBurgerBeweging is the big winner of the Provincial Council elections, but they too are bound by the plans and guidelines of Europe in their formations. According to Europe expert Rob Boudewijn, little remains of the nitrogen ambitions and promises that led BBB to profit.
In particular, statements such as ‘nitrogen, we just won’t do it’ hit like a pair of pincers on a pig, thinks Boudewijn. ‘You are legally bound nationally and internationally, so I’m afraid if you make statements like this when you can’t live up to them, it’s a shot in the foot.’
Boudewijn emphasizes that it has also been given too little attention in the campaign. ‘The province is actually the tier of government most directly related to Europe,’ he says. This is due to the fact that climate, energy, nature and even asylum policy must all be implemented by the provinces. ‘And we didn’t hear that important aspect in the campaign at all.’
Empty promise
And so there seems to be empty promises at BBB, Boudewijn thinks: ‘It’s not possible. From a national perspective, we have made an agreement that nitrogen emissions will be halved by 2030,’ he continues. ‘You can ignore that, but in the end it can come down to Brussels forcing the Netherlands. This could soon make BBB known as a very unreliable partner in the EU, which would not do the image of the Netherlands any good.’
‘It’s not possible’
The 2030 deadline is also enforceable from the judiciary, as various interest groups have shown. There is a court ruling on this, and according to Boudewijn there is little to argue against.
Forum
Boudewijn dares to make a comparison between the rise of BBB and the rise of Forum for Democracy four years ago, stating that BBB will suffer the same fate. ‘They also made all kinds of promises about shaking up The Hague, et cetera, but none of those have been fulfilled,’ he concludes. “And I’m afraid the same goes for the BBB.”
