Dutch cabinet details nitrogen plan: farm emission cuts, provincial zoning and a lower permit threshold

A detailed package follows the summer outline

The cabinet published the detailed elaboration of its nitrogen plan on 3 November 2026, filling in the broad outline it had presented in June. Minister Jaimi van Essen (Agriculture and Nature, D66) described the package as a solid one and rejected the idea that it waters down the earlier measures.

“These are not weakenings.”

The cabinet is also dropping the old method, which relied on the critical deposition value (KDW), a threshold for how much nitrogen a vulnerable nature area can absorb. From now on it will steer on emissions at the source, meaning what comes out of the barn and the exhaust pipe. The cabinet sets aside 20 billion euros for the package as a whole, with 9 billion euros earmarked for relocation schemes, personal support for farmers and voluntary exit schemes.

Total package20

Relocation, personal support and voluntary exit schemes9

Total package

20 billion euros

Relocation, personal support and voluntary exit schemes

9 billion euros

Data from the article text

Emission targets for farming and other sectors

Agriculture must cut ammonia emissions by about a quarter by 2030 compared with 2019, and by nearly half by 2035. The 2035 target for agriculture is a reduction of 42 to 46 percent, while industry and mobility must halve their ammonia output in the same period. The minister can cut production rights, which determine how many animals a farmer may keep, if the farming sector as a whole misses the 2035 goals, forcing herds to shrink.

Outside farming, the goal is to halve nitrogen oxide emissions from traffic and ammonia from industry by 2035 compared with 2019. Those targets are easier to reach, because EU rules on truck emissions, the shift to electric driving and cleaner factories are already reducing emissions. The number of goats, calves and beef cows may not rise, and a production rights system for goats is to be introduced. The first measurement is due in early 2028.

Zones, cow limits and provincial freedom

Reports differ on the buffer zones. Telegraaf says the 500 and 1,000 metre zones around nature areas remain in place, while AD, citing sources in The Hague, says they disappear for now. Under the plan, provinces may design their own measures, as long as the emission cuts are secured, for about a hundred areas. Provinces must submit a legally secured proposal by 1 September 2028. If they fail, national rules apply, including a limit of 1.5 cows per hectare in the zones, stricter crop protection and far less manure.

The national cow limit of 2.6 cows per hectare is also disputed. Volkskrant reports that Van Essen holds to it, and the bill will not reach parliament this year. AD reports that the norm is temporarily postponed, and that if the alternative fails, it will apply after all. On the farmers' side, the minister said:

“We ask a lot of farmers.”

Permits, PAS-melders and the lower threshold

The cabinet wants to raise the rekenkundige ondergrens (RKO), the threshold below which a nature permit is not required, from 1 July 2027, half a year earlier than planned. The threshold is currently 0.005 mol, which means nearly every project needs a permit, including small building schemes. Telegraaf reports it is still unclear whether the threshold will rise to 0.5 mol of nitrogen deposition per hectare per year. Legal experts fear that a court could strike down the higher threshold, as the Council of State did with the earlier exemption for PAS-melders.

About 1,800 farmers who have operated without a nature permit through no fault of their own are to be legalised by 1 July 2027, according to AD. How that will happen has yet to be determined. Van Essen wrote that the legal risks are covered if the targets and measures are fixed in law, which the cabinet has sent to parliament.

Groningen, water and reactions

For Groningen, earlier plans named one nitrogen-sensitive Natura 2000 area inside the province, Liefstinghsbroek, an old forest near Sellingen in Westerwolde. Buffer zones may also apply near the Bakkeveense Duinen in Friesland and the Drentsche Aa in Drenthe. Under the EU Water Framework Directive, all groundwater and surface water must be in good condition by 2027, and several Groningen waters appear on a list of vulnerable water areas.

LTO Nederland and the Nederlands Agrarisch Jongeren Kontakt have been given three months to propose an alternative, while Farmers Defence Force and Agractie refused to join talks. In Midden-Delfland, farmers, scientists, companies and the environmental organisation MOB plan a pilot in early 2027 to test whether farms that demonstrably emit less can more easily obtain permits, according to Trouw.