UNDERSTANDING THE WEAK LINK BETWEEN EU’S FARM TO FORK STRATEGY AND THE REALITY - A case study in the Netherlands

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand how the Farm to Fork Strategy is being implemented in the Netherlands, what dilemma’s are being discussed on national level and what role the government and MP’s play. The research is done through the lens of Multi Level Perspective in socio-technical transitions. An analysis of documents published by the House of Representatives in the Netherlands was done as well as semi structured interviews with two organisations in the Netherlands that give insights in the situation in the Netherlands with regards to policy making and the implementation of F2F strategy. The analysis and interviews show that the current political discourse in the Netherlands focusses on the Dutch agricultural interests and the existence of the established business model, even though it is acknowledged that the current regime cannot continue because of the destroying effects to nature. The ambitions to act upon the Farm to Fork Strategy exist clearly but are being overshadowed by the Nitrogen crisis that derives directly from environmental impacts and are having economical consequences. As such, the discourse is evolving around the current crisis and not around the long term goals as stated in the F2F. However, there is a strong ambition of innovation and a multi stakeholder approach, and with this, niches are being formed that over time can stabilize in a dominant design, if the momentum increases.