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Farmer–Citizen Movement

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Farmer–Citizen Movement
BoerBurgerBeweging
AbbreviationBBB
LeaderCaroline van der Plas
ChairpersonErik Stegink
Leader in the House of RepresentativesCaroline van der Plas
Leader in the SenateIlona Lagas
FounderCaroline van der Plas
Founded1 October 2019; 5 years ago (2019-10-01)
HeadquartersSmeenkhof 12-d,
Colmschate, Deventer[1]
Youth wingBBB Jong
Membership (January 2024)Increase 13,426[2]
IdeologyAgrarianism
Conservatism
Right-wing populism
Soft Euroscepticism
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Colours  Grass green
SloganDe stem van en voor het platteland ("The voice of and for the countryside")
Senate
16 / 75
House of Representatives
7 / 150
States-Provincial
137 / 572
Water board[3]
118 / 518
European Parliament
2 / 31
Benelux Parliament
2 / 21
Website
boerburgerbeweging.nl

The Farmer–Citizen Movement (Dutch: BoerBurgerBeweging [buːrˈbʏrɣərbəˌʋeːɣɪŋ]; BBB) is an agrarian[4] and right-wing populist[5] political party in the Netherlands.[6] It is headquartered in Deventer, Overijssel. The current party leader is founder Caroline van der Plas, who has led it since its creation in 2019.[7]

History

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The Farmer–Citizen Movement was founded on 1 November 2019 by agricultural journalist Caroline van der Plas, together with Wim Groot Koerkamp and Henk Vermeer from agricultural marketing firm ReMarkAble, in response to the widespread farmers' protests that had taken place earlier that month.[8][9] On 17 October 2020, Van der Plas was unanimously chosen as the party's lead candidate.[10] It won one seat at the 2021 general election.[8]

The BBB won the 2023 provincial elections, winning the popular vote and receiving the most seats in all twelve provinces.[11][12][13][14] Given that the provincial councils elect the Dutch Senate, the party was predicted to win 17 seats in the 2023 Senate election, the most of any party;[13] it won 16 seats in the election.

On 1 September 2023, former JA21 MPs Nicki Pouw-Verweij and Derk Jan Eppink and former PVV MP Lilian Helder joined the BBB parliamentary group in the run-up to 2023 parliamentary elections, increasing the BBB's number of seats from one to four.[15] BBB also presented Mona Keijzer as candidate for Prime Minister.[16] The party won seven seats with nearly half a million votes.

Ideology and platform

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The BBB is a primarily agrarian[4] and right-wing populist[5][17][18] political party, that is generally placed on the centre-right,[19][20][21][22] to right-wing[23][24][25][26][27] of the political spectrum. The party has been variously described as conservative,[21] centrist,[4] Christian-democratic,[28] and partially centre-left.[4] While not a far-right party itself, some academics and journalists have argued that it is supported by far-right elements.[29][30] The BBB shifted further to the right after PVV and JA21 members joined the BBB faction in September 2023.[31][32]

In European politics, the party is regarded as Eurosceptic.[5][33] The BBB supports Dutch membership of the European Union (EU) for trading purposes, but wants to reduce the power of the EU "to a level of how the EEC was once intended" and opposes federalisation of the EU. The party argues that each country and region within the EU should be allowed to maintain its identity and culture without interference.[34][33] It stated its intention to join the European People's Party[35] but unlike other EPP parties, BBB did not join the Christian Group in the Benelux Parliament[36] nor does BBB sit in the EPP group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[37]

On foreign policy, the party also supports Dutch membership of NATO and has called for providing Ukraine with F-16s.[38]

On immigration and asylum, the party supports accommodating refugees fleeing wars but prefers they be helped close to the region of where they are from rather than encouraging migration to the Netherlands and intends for most refugees to return home once the conflict is over. It also calls for immigrants to already be employed and financially self-supporting before moving to the Netherlands, and they must learn Dutch, work and pay tax in the Netherlands for at least five years before becoming eligible for permanent residency. The party supports deporting illegal immigrants.[33]

The party considers itself to support both food politics[39][failed verification] and rural development.[40][third-party source needed] It opposes the Rutte government's proposals to mitigate the human impact on the nitrogen cycle following the Nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands.[41]

Party leader Caroline van der Plas has stated that the Party for the Animals and animal rights organization Wakker Dier are two organisations with whom she disagrees with 99% of their viewpoints. She saw the effect of their campaigns and wanted to provide an alternative perspective on social media.[42]

In the 2021 general election, the party focused its campaign on issues important to rural and agrarian voters, including pledges for a "Ministry of the Countryside" located at least 100 kilometers from The Hague, and a removal of the ban on neonicotinoids.[43] The party called for a Right to Agriculture Act, which would allow for farmers to have more say on agricultural expansion matters, in response to local opposition to pig and goat farms over public health, environmental and agricultural concerns.

Election results

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House of Representatives

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See also: List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Farmer–Citizen Movement
Election Lead candidate List Votes % Seats +/– Government
2021 Caroline van der Plas List 104,319 1.00 New Opposition
2023 List 485,551 4.65 Increase 6 Coalition

Senate

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Election Lead candidate Votes Weight % Seats +/–
2023 Ilona Lagas 137 36,976 20.66 New

European Parliament

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Election List Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2024 List 336,953 5.41 New EPP

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Register". www.kiesraad.nl. 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2024" [Membership of Dutch political parties as of 1 January 2024]. University of Groningen (in Dutch). Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  3. ^ Each water board holds two seats for agricultural and nature reserve stakeholders respectively, which are not elected
  4. ^ a b c d "Een beetje links, een beetje rechts én agrarisch populisme: Dit is waar de BoerBurgerBeweging voor staat". 23 March 2023. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Farmers' protest party win shock Dutch vote victory". BBC News. 16 March 2023. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  6. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Bestuur BoerBurgerBeweging". BoerBurgerBeweging (in Dutch). 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b "BBB partijgeschiedenis". Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  9. ^ "REMARKABLE MAAKT OPMERKELIJKE BOERBURGERBEWEGING". ReMarkAble. 19 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Kandidaat-Kamerleden BBB". BoerBurgerBeweging (in Dutch). 13 May 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  11. ^ Corder, Mike (16 March 2023). "Populist Farmer Citizen Movement wins big in Dutch election". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  12. ^ Camut, Nicolas (16 March 2023). "Dutch pro-farmers party wins big in provincial elections". Politico. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  13. ^ a b Holligan, Anna; Kirby, Paul (16 March 2023). "Farmers' protest party win shock Dutch vote victory". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  14. ^ Meijer, Bart H. (16 March 2023). "Dutch farmers' protest party scores big election win, shaking up Senate". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Omroep Venlo - Lilian Helder direct van PVV naar BBB". omroepvenlo.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  16. ^ "BBB schuift Mona Keijzer naar voren als premierskandidaat". nos.nl (in Dutch). 1 September 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  17. ^ Adler, Katya (30 June 2023). "Far-right parties on the rise across Europe". BBC News. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Column (Maarten van Nieuw Amerongen): Het populisme van van der Plas en Boswijk". Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Dutch farmers turn protests into vote victory". 15 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Farmers on frontline as Dutch divided by war on nitrogen pollution | Netherlands | the Guardian".
  21. ^ a b "BoerBurgerBeweging". University of Münster. May 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Politiek met Sjoerd – Wie is de BBB-stemmer?" (in Dutch). Ipsos. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  23. ^ Ben Crum (2023). "Party System Hospitality, Internal Strife, and Radicalization". In Ben Crum; Alvaro Oleart (eds.). Populist Parties and Democratic Resilience: A Cross-National Analysis of Populist Parties' Impact on Democratic Pluralism in Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 124. ISBN 9781000834628.
  24. ^ "Exit poll shows Dutch coalition will lose 8 seats in Senate as BBB becomes biggest party | NL Times". nltimes.nl. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Populist Farmer Citizen Movement wins big in Dutch election". Associated Press. 16 March 2023. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ Valk, Guus (19 March 2023). "Waar staat BBB op het politieke spectrum? Drie politicologen aan het woord". NRC. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  28. ^ Valk, Guus (25 August 2023). "Het CDA-denken is springlevend, in de partijen van Omtzigt en Van der Plas". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  29. ^ "Trump and Le Pen backed these Dutch farmers – now they've sprung an election shock". CNN. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023. The Farmer-Citizen Movement has also won support from the far-right." "It remains to be seen whether the Farmer-Citizen Movement will present itself as a far-right party.
  30. ^ "Rural populist party emerges as big winner in Dutch elections". The Guardian. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023. The BBB, which has won the support of far-right and populist parties internationally, claims the problem has been exaggerated and that farmers' livelihoods are being sacrificed to the green transition.
  31. ^ "Maakt BBB een ruk naar rechts met premierskandidaat Mona Keijzer? 'We zijn behoudend op culturele zaken'". EenVandaag. AVRO-TROS. 1 September 2023.
  32. ^ Aalberts, Chris (6 September 2023). "Hoe lang zal Caroline van der Plas blij zijn met haar nieuwe collega's?".
  33. ^ a b c "Healthy farmers With each other, for each other!". Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  34. ^ "VERKIEZINGSPROGRAMMA" (PDF). BBB. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  35. ^ "Sander Smit lijsttrekker BBB bij Europese verkiezingen". 15 December 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  36. ^ "Politieke fracties". beneluxparl.eu (in Dutch). Benelux Parliament. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  37. ^ "Mr Gerrit-Jan OPLAAT (Netherlands, NR)". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  38. ^ "Een jaar oorlog in Oekraïne; vrijheid en veiligheid waarderen betekent voedsel waarderen | BBB". boerburgerbeweging.nl (in Dutch). 5 March 2023. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  39. ^ Kieskamp, Wilma (14 August 2019). "Nieuwe partij voor boeren mikt op twee Kamerzetels". Trouw (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  40. ^ "BBB Kandidaten Flyer Caroline van der Plas" (PDF). BoerBurgerBeweging (in Dutch). October 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  41. ^ "Waarom protesteren boeren in Den Haag?". NRC. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  42. ^ Willems, Ingrid (27 December 2019). "Caroline van der Plas (52) uit Deventer verloor haar man, als frontvrouw van de boeren jeuken haar handen". De Stentor. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  43. ^ Buning, Stefan. "Caroline van der Plas gekozen als lijsttrekker BoerBurgerBeweging". Agraaf. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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