Nitrogen policy in Flanders Who unchains a locked-up debate?
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Published
07-11-2025
Maarten Crivits
Louis Tessier
David De Pue
Lies Messely
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8691-9752
Abstract
This study analyses the political dynamics of nitrogen governance in Flanders, a contentious issue shaped by the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Combining the Policy Arrangement Approach with theories of (de)politicisation, we trace the policy’s evolution from Natura 2000 implementation to the 2024 decree. We identify a recurring cycle: judicial interventions, particularly concerning Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, temporarily disrupt a closed political process by imposing new evidential standards. However, these openings are quickly reabsorbed. Administrative mechanisms—technical thresholds, model-based attribution, and neo-corporatist bargaining—systematically re-channel conflict into narrow, technical procedures While consultation appears to expand, the influence of alternative claims and knowledge remains minimal, constrained by calculative tools and cabinet politics. Consequently, potential synergies between agriculture and nature, such as agroecology, are depoliticised; their discourses gain visibility but leave budgets and core instruments unchanged. The current shift towards emission-based instruments risks repeating this cycle if treated as a mere technical fix. For nitrogen governance to be both effective and democratically robust, it requires deliberative spaces for co-designing policy, transparent evidence practices open to counter-expertise, and financing that enables systemic transition rather than incremental pollution abatement.
How to Cite
Crivits, M. (2025) “Nitrogen policy in Flanders: Who unchains a locked-up debate?”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 255–279. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.649.
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Keywords
Policy arrangement Approach , post-political, civic agency, nature-agriculture nexus, nitrogen policy
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De Schrijver, A., De Frenne, P., Ampoorter, E., Van Nevel, L., Demey, A., Wuyts, K. and Verheyen, K. (2011) ‘Cumulative nitrogen input drives species loss in terrestrial ecosystems’, Global Ecology and Biogeography, 20(6), pp. 803–816.
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Frouws, J. (1994) *Mest en macht: een politiek-sociologische studie naar belangenbehartiging en beleidsvorming inzake de mestproblematiek in Nederland vanaf 1970*. PhD. Wageningen University and Research.
Greider, T. and Garkovich, L. (1994) ‘Landscapes: The social construction of nature and the environment’, Rural Sociology, 59(1), pp. 1-24.
Grin, J. (2012) ‘The politics of transition governance in Dutch agriculture. Conceptual understanding and implications for transition management’, International Journal of Sustainable Development, 15(1-2), pp. 72-89.
Hajer, M.A. (1995) The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernization and the policy process. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Halada, L., Evans, D., Romão, C. and Petersen, J.E. (2011) ‘Which habitats of European importance depend on agricultural practices?’, Biodiversity and Conservation, 20, pp. 2365-2378.
Hammond, P. (2021) ‘Post-political communication and sustainability’, in The sustainability communication reader: A reflective compendium. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 51-69.
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Food System Transformation, Politicisation and Depoliticisation
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How to Cite
Crivits, M. (2025) “Nitrogen policy in Flanders: Who unchains a locked-up debate?”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 255–279. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.649.