SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Wednesday’s court ruling ordering the Dutch state to take action to reduce nitrogen-based pollution immediately is “not the verdict I had hoped for,” farm minister Femke Wiersma said in a short statement.

Instead, the cabinet is looking for an approach that takes the “broader social impact” into account, Wiersma said, adding that the option of an appeal is being considered. “We cannot ask the impossible of people and companies,” the minister said on social media.

On Wednesday morning, judges ordered the Dutch state to reduce nitrogen-based pollution in the country’s most vulnerable habitats by 50% or face a fine of €10 million in 2030. The case was brought by campaign group Greenpeace.

Coalition and opposition parties have now called on the government to come up with new plans as a matter of urgency.

In particular, they say, the minister’s plans to focus on innovation to reduce nitrogen pollution, a different approach to nature management and a voluntary buy-out scheme for farmers, fall short.

Greenpeace wants to force the government to cut nitrogen emissions drastically and the courts to check the government’s approach to dealing with the problem against the European bird and habitat directives.

The case is a “last chance to save the most vulnerable habitats because if nitrogen emissions don’t go down, we risk losing unique plants and animals,” the campaign group said at the court hearing last November.

• What’s all the fuss about nitrogen in the Netherlands?

The EU directives are the cornerstones of EU nature protection policy and led to the creation of Natura 2000, a pan-European network of protected areas. The Netherlands has some 160 areas which fall under the Natura 2000 network.

Since the right-wing government came to power this summer, it has become increasingly confused about what it intends to do about the nitrogen issue.

In September farm minister Wiersma scrapped the previous administration’s plans to reduce nitrogen emissions and it is still unclear what she intends to replace them with.

The biggest sources of nitrogen-based pollution are fossil fuels, used in vehicles and energy generation, as well as farming, through the use of artificial and manure-based fertiliser.

Appeal

Both Greenpeace and the Dutch state have the right to appeal against the verdict, but the court did order the government to start tackling the problem immediately.

Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-countryside BBB, said the court suggested that nothing is being done to tackle the problem, but this is not the case.

“We are faced with the poor legislation left behind by previous cabinets,” she said. “This cabinet is extremely working hard to find a solution and things are already being done.”

The BBB controls the agriculture ministry in the current right-wing government.

“It’s definitely a victory after decades of inaction,” Hilde Anna de Vries of Greenpeace told reporters after the hearing. “I think this verdict shows that the plans of previous cabinets are inadequate and now they absolutely have to come up with a plan.”

(DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Syrian refugees in the Netherlands who want to return to Syria following the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad are to receive €900 in cash and a ticket to Damascus if they give up their asylum claim, the justice ministry’s repatriation service DTenV has said on a designated website.

The €900 cash return premium, meant to support returnees during the first few weeks, is almost double that of the normal maximum of €500.

The offer is meant for Syrians who are in the Netherands illegally, have a temporary residency permit or are in the process of getting a permit. In exchange, candidates are to sign a document which will permanently cancel any residency permit or future request for asylum.

New asylum applications had already been put on hold since December.

The service, which claims to have received “ inquiries and requests” for help from Syrians wanting to go back, said candidates will be told about the risks that may be involved because it is unclear if the country is safe for all.

The service will also assist in booking the ticket although the site does not say who will be footing the bill. Syrians who have no travel documents can be provided with one at the Syrian embassy in Brussels, including help with permission to travel to the Belgian capital.

The Netherlands is currently home to 160,000 Syrians. In 2023 some 27,000 refugees were given temporary residency, over half of whom were Syrian nationals. According to a survey among 3,000 Syrians in 2022 the majority would not return if the situation in their homeland improved.

Faber has made it clear that her policy is to return people to Syria once it is safe to do so.

Faber, a minister on behalf of the far right PVV, said that the initial focus would be on people with a temporary residency permit. If they had fled because of Assad, then the grounds on which they had been granted asylum have now gone, she said.

(DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Plane ticket prices have soared since 2019, RTL reported on Wednesday, citing figures from the national statistics agency CBS.

At the same time, the number of flights and air passengers last year was almost back to pre-coronavirus levels, and expectations for the coming years are “positive,” RTL said.

In 2019, 566,031 flights began or ended at one of the five Dutch commercial airports, while last year the total was just 6% lower, at 533,000. Passenger numbers were also down by only 6% compared to pre-coronavirus levels, despite the surge in ticket prices.

While inflation has risen by 22% over the period, plane tickets are now 73% more expensive.

“The demand for tickets is so great that people are less sensitive to price increases,” aviation economist Rogier Lieshout told RTL. “People increased their savings during the coronavirus years of 2020 and 2021, and wages have risen as well.”

According to the mobility strategy institute KIM, 81% of flights were primarily for holidays or visiting friends and family. “Holidays are one of the last things the Dutch economise on,” Lieshout said.

Price hikes are also not an issue for business travel, as employers typically cover the costs, he noted.

The pending tariff increases at Schiphol Airport and a new tax on flying are expected to push ticket prices even higher. Changes to the European carbon pricing system will also have an impact in the coming years, Lieshout said.

(DutchNews)