Tijdschrift voor Agrarisch Recht - Volume 86, Issue 4, 2026

This article discusses recent legal developments in Dutch regulation of nitrogen in regards to the protection of Natura 2000 areas, focusing on the use of nitrogen from existing activities for new activities withing the same location (in Dutch: intern salderen). A major turning point is the Rendac judgement, in which is determined that the use of nitrogen from existing activities for new activities on the same location requires a permit. As a result, the use of nitrogen for new activities is only allowed if authorities justify that nitrogen is not needed for Natura 2000 conservation goals.

In practice, this requirement is difficult to meet due to limited available measures and poor ecological conditions, significantly restricting development opportunities.

Furthermore, the Pasgeld-West Judgement confirms that these principles not only apply to projects as referred to in Council Directive 92/43/EEC, but also apply to plans. Although some flexibility exists for municipalities, planning has become more complex. Overall, these rulings prioritize environmental protection but restrict development opportunities.

This article examines whether the “boerenlandgoed” can function as a legally and fiscally relevant alternative within the agricultural transition, particularly where the agricultural exemption and the business succession scheme create a lock-in effect. Building on two underlying reports, the article argues that the Natuurschoonwet 1928 (NSW) deserves renewed attention in agrarian legal practice. The NSW is not merely a classical estate regime, but also a workable framework for newly arranged rural properties that combine agricultural use with at least 30% nature development and landscape structure. The article shows that the boerenlandgoed has a dual significance. On the one hand, it offers a fiscal route out of the lock-in surrounding stopping, gifting and succession by exchanging box 1 advantages for NSW-related treatment in box 3 and in transfer taxation. On the other hand, it creates a legal-economic model in which nature realisation, green-blue landscape connectivity and future-proof agricultural use can be combined through tenancy, ANLb, eco-schemes and, where possible, permanent spatial value capture. Special attention is paid to the temporary phase before reliance is placed on the inheritance, gift or transfer tax facilities of the NSW. In that phase there is no statutory 25-year clawback period, which makes it possible to stop farming, preserve capital value and create pension income without immediately becoming locked into succession-oriented structures. The article concludes that the boerenlandgoed should be understood not as a generic substitute for farming, but as a legally structured transition model with both fiscal and societal added value.