Plan B Plan

Electoral Program Party for the Animals Parliamentary elections 2021 Idealism is the new realism

ELECTORAL PROGRAM PARTY FOR THE ANIMALS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 2021 1

Introduction – Plan B

Table of contents

Introduction 3

1. A liveable Earth 8 For all its inhabitants

2. 20 Animals have the right to live according to their nature

3. Food and agriculture 34 Only sustainable agriculture can provide healthy food for everyone

4. Systemic change 44 Economic growth is the problem, not the solution

5. Environment, energy and mobility 54 Protect everything of value, share scarce resources equally We live in uncertain times. But we also stand on the threshold of important and A healthy society 66 6. long-awaited changes. Citizens around the A government that puts health first world are taking to the streets in droves, demanding action for climate change. The 7. Living space for everyone 78 winds of change are blowing. A growing Appropriate and affordable housing in green surroundings number of people refuse to contribute to the industry and support for free 8. More knowledge, wisdom and beauty 86 trade agreements is dwindling. Politicians Education, science and culture in traditional parties are clearly becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the 9. A just society 94 consequences of their own neoliberal With a government that listens to people, rather than listens in on people policies. Shareholders have been growing rich while the average citizen has been left 10. Europe and international solidarity 104 out in the cold. The economic system no The Earth offers enough to satisfy everyone’s needs longer serves our human values. It is time to but not everyone’s greed make radically different choices.

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The coronavirus crisis has strengthened that that will, at best, only become effective decades radical reduction in the number of animals justice crisis, and now a health crisis that has realisation. The pandemic has magnified the from now. We will not compromise and join in in livestock farming is necessary to liberate paralyzed the world. These crises are a result of systemic deficiencies that have been put in place endless debates between parties, which are farmers, animals, and the environment from a the way humans interact with nature and animals. by traditional politics. Turning the world into one fundamentally at odds, to reach a watered-down dead-end agricultural system. More free trade We are digging our own graves and, therefore, giant marketplace, where production needs to be version of core values where ideals have been left is not beneficial for human rights and for the need to fundamentally change how we define our carried out as cheaply and efficiently as possible, by the wayside. So, what will we offer? A brave environment; it goes against our nature and our relationship with animals and the environment. has put us in a very precarious situation. new political direction that offers a new prospect common interests. Suddenly, we are dependent on China, the for people, animals, nature and the environment Plan B is about being safe rather than sorry. world’s factory, for our essential goods. Jobs that and in which ideals play a central role. Our ideals. We are breaking taboos. Instead of an economic Because there is no Planet B. were undervalued are now deemed crucial to Your ideals. We are convinced that this is possible. system that only serves the elite, we want a our well-being — in stark contrast to the rewards We are going to do our very best to realise your welfare economy that is sustainable for our planet. associated with careers with no perceptible ideals. Staying true to your ideals, that is our goal. Instead of making agricultural export our goal, we The new Doughnut economy added value. Even in our wealthy society, the will help farmers make the transition to regional number of people who are dependent on food aid and truly sustainable production where the human A sustainable economy stays within the has exploded. A virus that was transferred from Idealism is the new realism factor and farming expertise are given free rein carrying capacity of our planet. The British animals to humans is responsible for the deaths once more. We protect farmers, self-employed economist Kate Raworth describes this system of more than one million people worldwide and The Earth offers enough to satisfy everyone’s entrepreneurs, and employees in our part of the as a doughnut, where everyone has the right has precipitated the largest economic crisis since needs but not everyone’s greed. The biggest world and in developing countries against unfair to basic (social) facilities, and no one has the the Second World War. Meanwhile, new zoonotic challenge at the moment is keeping our planet competition and a price-driven market. right to abuse the ecosystem for their own gain. diseases with pandemic implications are rearing habitable for future generations; an Earth with We should let our actions be led by a sense their heads, such as the bird flu and the mutation clean air, clean water, rich biodiversity, fertile We are a driving force behind fundamental, of community and the health and well-being of COVID-19 present in minks. If humans would soil, a stable climate and a harmonious society positive change. The coronavirus crisis is a turning of people, animals and the environment, and have left animals alone, we would not have had involving every living being. A society where point, a chance to say farewell to ‘business as be geared towards significantly reducing our to deal with an abundance of infectious diseases, caring for each other plays a central role, where usual’ once and for all. Going back to the new ecological footprint. One-sided growth models 75% of which originate from the animal kingdom. the fair distribution of resources and equal abnormal is no longer an option. A society where from the Bureau for Economic treatment in every sense becomes a reality, and people live in harmony with other beings, with Policy Analysis hardly take into account the All the signs indicate that we have reached a where quality education and meaningful work our living environment and with each other, is a consequences of our actions. In Plan B, the turning point. We cannot afford to continue with becomes universally accessible. A society where reassuring thought, for now, and for the future. polluter pays, whether that’s the aviation, business as usual. It is time for Plan B — because people are actively involved in the changes agricultural, transport or industrial sector. there is no Planet B. This election programme required to make this happen. We need to say Initiatives that offer long-term solutions for goodbye to systems that no longer function, Biased growth our future, such as preventive healthcare and to the old-fashioned division into left or right, sustainable agriculture, are given priority. The historian Philipp Blom describes the and to egocentrism. Our eco-centric program is Current policy is aimed at a rapid return to the Labour taxes are strongly reduced, and the situation as follows: “We are seeing a break needed to turn the tide. We are the only party traditional exploitation of the Earth’s resources, consumption of scarce resources becomes more between eras. We have reached a tipping that takes the interests of every living being — resources that for a while we believed to be expensive. More jobs will become available as point in history, and we do not know on human and animal — as a guiding principle. We endless. Injecting large sums of borrowed money we reduce the costs of labour and invest in the which side the coin will land. We are stuck have a vision for the entire planet. This is what into the economy does not provide perspective or green economy. Vital occupations will be re- in an economic model that is destined to makes us unique. a structural solution. As if by reflex, polluting and evaluated, and public facilities restored. The fail. Either it ends in catastrophe with new tax-evading concerns are given support, leaving teacher, the nurse, the refuse collector, the pandemics, war, no access to resources, you name it, or we start heading in a new The Party for the Animals’ unique starting the government very little money for healthcare constable, the cleaner and all those other crucial direction. But one thing is certain; the tide of position provides the space and creativity to and the cultural sector. Scant attention is given to and undervalued occupations are given due history will turn.” provide effective solutions. We are offered a what truly matters, issues that are often literally compensation. wonderful opportunity to tackle the roots of a matter of life and death, but that politically the crisis we are facing and to find collaborative speaking require a more long-term vision. is our Plan B. We will not treat symptoms. We solutions. Economic growth is the problem, Plaguing animals leads to human plagues will not attempt to refine an unsupportable not the solution. The Netherlands cannot We are dealing with a number of crises on a global economic system. We will not offer solutions be the world’s dairy farmer and butcher. A scale: a climate crisis, a biodiversity crisis, a social Of the infectious diseases threatening the human

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population around the globe, 75% are transmitted years. Therefore, having fewer animals in the more. Improving public transport and reducing industry that fuels conflicts. Combating global through animals. According to virologist and livestock industry offers many benefits: water car traffic will reduce the level of fine particles hunger and poverty starts with a fair distribution professor Ron Fouchier from the Erasmus MC, conservation, more space for nature and housing, in the air and generate more space for greener of the resources our planet has to offer. The we are only a few steps away from a mutation of fewer climate problems and a significant streets. Through remote work, people can live Party for the Animals would like to use at least the bird flu which, when it becomes contagious reduction in the risk of a new pandemic. in rural areas, giving the struggling rural regions 1% of our GNP to combat global inequality. among humans, could lead to a mortality rate a new impetus. Overheated cities would be given Inequality has far-reaching consequences: when dozen times higher than COVID-19. This makes Biodiversity as a priority more space and breathing room. Schools, small large groups of people fall victim to climate how we exploit animals extremely dangerous, supermarkets, and local public transport would change, lack of economic opportunity and war, not only for the animals but also for our own lives In the Netherlands, only 15% of the indigenous increase the quality of life in the immediate living the migration streams of those people who are and well-being. The livestock industry is literally animal and plant species survive today. Not only environment. cast adrift can no longer be managed, leading to making us sick and needs to be put to a halt as is the diversity of species in jeopardy, but the widespread repercussions. soon as possible. The Party for the Animals wants food supply along with the well-being and safety to see a reduction in the number of animals bred, of humans is also at stake. In Plan B, we will Making people better: a government Stay true to your ideals exploited and killed in the livestock industry every connect nature areas with each other. We will fighting for a healthy society! year (currently in the Netherlands, this amounts to stop biomass production and plant new forests More and more people realise that it is time over 640 million farm animals) by at least 75%. on a large scale. In so doing, we will remove CO2 In an unhealthy living environment, people need to move away from traditional paradigms that from the air, give nature a chance to recover, and to do their best to not get sick. That’s not the no longer work. You are one of those people; If the farmlands currently used for the cultivation develop more green space for people and animals. way things should work. The close intertwining otherwise, you wouldn’t have read this far. This of livestock feed for the meat industry are instead We literally have some scores to settle with of industry and politics has given rise to poor air programme tells you about the Party for the used for crops for direct human consumption, threats to nature such as agricultural pollutants, quality, poor health conditions, a hypocritical Animals’ vision for the entire planet. Our political we can feed three times as many people with the nitrogen levels and greenhouse gasses. food lobby, a deadly tobacco industry, and a voting behaviour is based on four key concepts: same crop yield. We can even give some of those drinks industry that has made our young people tolerance, sustainability, personal freedom and fields back to nature. In the coming 40 years, our addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle before they’re personal responsibility. Our Plan B does not planet must produce the same amount of food as 10 out of 10 for climate change even old enough to make their own decisions. require much in monetary terms, but to turn we have been producing in the past 8,000 years. Everyone has the right to a healthy living the tide, we do require the courage of many This is only possible through radical change. The coming ten years will be decisive for our environment. The government must safeguard brave citizens. We will need that courage on Food waste must be actively combated, and a climate. That’s why the 2021 elections are more our liberties and develop a framework for 17 March 2021. If we cannot rely on the current fairer distribution of food resources is therefore important than ever. The energy transition will protecting our health. politicians to create positive change, then it’s essential. have to take place in the coming decade if we time for citizens to get politically involved. want to prevent our planet from heating up These elections offer a unique opportunity to This will only offer advantages. Through more to dangerous temperatures. We are the first International solidarity end the traditional game of catch-up between plant-based agriculture, we will save animals generation to undergo the consequences of global fossil-fuelled political dinosaurs at the expense from immeasurable suffering. And when we give warming, and the last generation who can stop We are worried about the large number of of the climate and the environment. It is time our chickens the room to follow their natural the situation from getting worse. Every ton of CO2 conflicts in the world today. Millions of people to stay true to our ideals instead of engaging in tendencies, we no longer need to fear the that enters the atmosphere right now will continue are being forced to flee their homes. The endless discussion, compromise and patching up threat of a bird flu pandemic provoked by the to loom over our planet for hundreds of years like conflicts are often compounded by water and holes. Together, we can effect radical change to incarceration of chickens under highly unnatural a sword of Damocles. The Netherlands cannot food shortages arising from climate change. We government policy and provide a happy outcome circumstances. More land will become available remain a non-committal discussion platform can make our world safer and more peaceful if to future generations. for nature and residential areas. Our soil will for political parties with opposing interests and we are willing to look at our own involvement return to its healthy state. We will prevent priorities. As a country that is largely situated in the causes behind these problems. With These elections are the opportunity of a lifetime. drought and the collapse of structures due to below sea level, it will have to actively defend our economic dogmas of endless growth and Never before have we seen so many encouraging poor soil conditions. In the Netherlands at the itself against climate change. If we can use our a higher GDP, we have often ignored the well- signs to make the outdated fossil-fuelled way a moment, a million homeowners are in danger buildings to generate energy instead of waste being and future of others. We waste resources: thing of the past. Turn this crisis into a turning of losing their precious homes to collapse energy, that would make a world of difference. fossil fuels, fresh water, and phosphates. point and give our youth, our children and our as a result of lower groundwater levels due With the decline in the aviation industry, clear We have an aggressive export strategy that grandchildren a sustainable future. Take sides to the agricultural sector. Average expected skies have become more prevalent, and the air is detrimental to the local economies in on 17 March and vote. For the animals. For the costs per homeowner: € 80,000 in the coming we breathe has become fresh and healthy once underdeveloped countries, and a weapons planet. For yourself.

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For all its inhabitants The Earth, and its natural wealth, is essential for every form of life. It is home to an enormous diversity of ecosystems and plant and animal species. However, our planet is now worse off than it has ever been before. If we don’t make radically different choices, we are heading straight for a global temperature increase of four degrees Celsius by the end of this century. We are already seeing the consequences of this temperature increase: droughts, flooding, apocalyptic forest fires along with devastating hurricanes and storms. Nature areas are disappearing or being choked to death, ecosystems are being thrown out of balance, and biodiversity is being wiped out. As a result of human activity, plant and animal species across the globe are faced with extinction at an alarming rate. Over 70% of all land-based animals have disappeared. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns us of the extinction of one million plant and animal species. The human population, represented by a meagre 0.01% of all life on Earth, is responsible. The loss in biodiversity precipitates further climate change, and vice versa, causing a downward spiral that must be stopped. The Party for the Animals stands for reducing consumption patterns. Our activities should not deplete more resources than our Earth has to offer. We still have a lot of ground to cover, literally.

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As the country with the highest concentration Supreme Court reminded the Dutch Government aviation and shipping sectors will no longer be international train connections. of livestock and the second-largest exporter of their legal obligation to combat climate exempt from realising these climate goals. • The International Criminal Court will be of agricultural produce in the world, the change, makes painfully clear that far more • The less energy you use, the less you produce. given the authority to prosecute CEO’s of Netherlands has a significant influence on drastic measures are required to achieve our That’s why we are committed to conserving companies or officials from countries who climate and biodiversity. More than half of the climate goals than traditional politics initially had energy in the agriculture, industry and are guilty of ecocide. Ecocide is a crime in country’s surface area is used for (monoculture) in mind. Climate and biodiversity goals should transport sectors and in urban areas. By 2030, which ecosystems are lost due to negligence, agriculture, and only 15% of the original no longer be optional. The time to restore our the Netherlands will have reduced its energy damage or destruction. biodiversity in the Netherlands survives today. climate and biodiversity is now. Any delay is consumption by at least 50%. The transition Eutrophication and drought, in particular unacceptable. We are the first generation to to an energy-efficient society will not only resulting from the bio-industry, significantly undergo the consequences of global warming, produce a reduction in costs but also plenty Ecological growth instead of damage what little nature is left. In addition and the last generation who can prevent the of green job opportunities, for example, economic growth to climate change, the large-scale situation from getting worse. in construction, the energy sector and industry causes substantial biodiversity loss. The (technical) education sector. Significant investments need to be made in damage caused to ecosystems and biodiversity • The number of animals in the livestock ecological growth through improved protection is compounded by climate change for which Facing the biodiversity and climate crisis industry will be reduced by at least 75%. of the environment and the development of new the fishing industry is partly responsible. The together Agricultural farmland that is no longer used natural environments. The stubborn focus of overexploitation of our seas and oceans caused will be returned to nature, and space will be traditional politics on economic growth and the by the fishing industry contributes to the rate The most critical measure to avert the crisis is created for residential areas. associated increase in consumption behaviour, of global warming. In addition to the intensive to reduce our ecological footprint. This requires • At least half of the coronavirus relief funds in combination with sky-high subsidies for livestock industry, the Dutch fossil fuel industry a comprehensive approach involving the will be used for investments benefitting polluting activities, has led to an irresponsible is also disrupting the climate and the natural combination of biodiversity measures with climate nature, the environment, climate, and escalation of the biodiversity issue. This not only environment around the globe. Moreover, plans. By implementing sustainable changes sustainable, environmentally friendly work has immensely adverse consequences for nature the loss of biodiversity and habitat for many in the food production sector, reducing our opportunities. reserves in the Netherlands but for ecosystems species ensures that contagious diseases such energy consumption, and reducing our resource • The fossil fuel industry will no longer be elsewhere as well. The exploitation of the Earth as COVID-19 are more easily transmitted from consumption, we give nature a chance to recover. exempt. The subsidies for the fossil fuel for the short-term interests of a small group of animals to humans. The food supply and health As a result, we can benefit from more greenery, industry will be abolished. We will reduce people must end. and safety of everyone on our planet is therefore a more pleasant and cleaner living environment, energy consumption and invest in the at stake. By developing a green economy, we can fewer emissions from traffic and agriculture and a development of sustainable energy sources. • The creation of new nature areas and the make a world of difference for a liveable future. more meaningful and greener job market. We will We will work towards a new economy reconnecting of fragmented nature reserves turn a no-win into a win-win situation. that functions within the environmental will provide room for nature development. The Earth may still recover if we radically change capabilities of our planet. This will make our nature more resilient course. We need to stop with unrestrained • A new ministry will be tasked with the • The burning of biomass fuels and the and allow fragile ecosystems to recover, economic growth on a planet that cannot grow responsibility for : the Ministry fermentation of manure to generate heat saving populations such as bird and insect along with us. By transitioning to a new economy of Health, Sports and Animal Welfare and electricity will be banned. Subsidies on populations from extinction in the process. that functions in harmony with the capabilities • A Ministry of Climate and Biodiversity will be biomass fuels will be terminated immediately. • Agricultural farmlands will be converted into and resources of the planet, we give the Earth created. The ministry will hold the same status • The Netherlands will choose a necessary nature reserves where the biodiversity can a chance to recover. To do so, we believe in the as the Ministry of Finance: the policies of reduction in the aviation industry. This means recover, and the emission of greenhouse importance of a socially equitable transition. other ministries will from now on be evaluated that the number of flights will be reduced to gasses will be significantly reduced. The emission of greenhouse gasses is mostly on sustainability. They will safeguard the a maximum of 300,000 flights per annum by Landowners will be compensated for the produced by a few large polluters. The Party environment, biodiversity, resources, and 2030. change in land use. for the Animals wants those polluters to pay CO2 budgets in such a way that the natural • Maastricht Aachen Airport will no longer • Natural landscapes are designed to encourage the lion’s share of the costs of sustainability and environment can recover. expand. Twente Airport and Lelystad Airport pollination and produce an animal-friendly wants society to benefit from the transition. The • The Netherlands will do its utmost to limit will not be thrown open for commercial environment to create an ecological network polluter pays while we give sustainable sectors global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees flights. Airport Eelde and of habitats and corridors. room to grow. Celsius and will be climate neutral by 2030 Airport will close. • Fossil-fuelled leaf blowers will be forbidden at the very latest. We will establish these • The Netherlands will actively work towards because of their damaging effects on air The Urgenda Climate Case, where the Dutch reduction goals in a new Climate Act. The promoting affordable, sustainable, and fast quality and noise pollution. Leaf blowing

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will only be permitted on paved areas for the emission of greenhouse gases. transition to sustainable energy by making the insulation of homes and other buildings and safety purposes, provided the leaves are not • The actual costs of products and services polluter pay. by implementing alternative forms of central disposed of but moved to unpaved locations will be reflected in the price, so costs are not heating. nearby. borne by the society at large. • We will lower labour taxes and increase taxes • Shale and coal gas will remain in the ground • A ban will be implemented on the use • The government will give unbiased and for the use of resources, pollution, capital, as the extraction of these gases will be of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and transparent information about the impact of and profit. prohibited. No permits will be issued for insecticides. products on services on the climate and the • A considerable CO2 tax will be implemented exploratory drilling. Existing permits will be • The cabinet will strive to reduce the Dutch environment. that will apply to all polluting sectors. The revoked. We will not allow the storage of CO2 contribution to Earth Overshoot Day (marking • A government campaign will be launched to aviation and shipping industries will lose their under Dutch soil, including in the North Sea. the day when human consumption exceeds better inform citizens about climate change. special status. Empty gas fields will not be used to store any the renewable resources our planet has to • Any policy, regardless of the domain it falls • Subsidies and lower tax rates for energy form of natural gas. offer within one year) by moving the date under, will be assessed for the effect that it producers and bulk consumers will be • Coal plants will be closed as quickly as back to at least the 31st December. has on sustainability, animal rights and human abolished. This will increase the incentive possible. Electricity produced by coal plants rights. for bulk consumers to reduce their energy and traditional nuclear plants will not be given • The government will set an example. consumption. The establishment of energy- access to the Dutch electricity grid. A just climate policy Procurement of all products and contracts guzzling data centres and other polluting • The Netherlands will not build any new will be 100% sustainable and fair trade by industries in the Netherlands will be nuclear plants, and existing plants will be The Party for the Animals stands for a sustainable 2030. This also applies to organisations discouraged. closed as quickly as possible. It is morally society in harmony with the Earth’s resource that are linked to the government: network • The environmental costs of the production irresponsible to burden future generations capacity. Despite the lofty promises made by administrators, water utility companies, of heat and electricity will be reflected in with even more nuclear waste that will traditional political parties, we will not achieve ports, airports, independent governance the price, making polluting energy more continue to be dangerous for thousands of the goals stipulated by the Paris Climate Accord organisations and all public bodies, such expensive and cleaner energy cheaper. years. Furthermore, constructing a nuclear at the current rate. The current climate policy as the central government, provinces, Suppliers of solar and wind energy will be plant will take decades, rendering the is a compromise between the interests of our municipalities, water boards and businesses given priority access to the electricity grid. construction of such a plant ineffective. The planet and the interests of the fossil fuel industry. that receive subsidies or tax benefits. • Advertising from the fossil-fuel industry (coal, consequences of a nuclear accident would be These compromises, however, are threatening • Together, we will shape the transition to oil and gas companies) and advertisements disastrous. to flood our country, with all the consequences a climate-neutral Netherlands by 2030. for fossil-fuelled products and services (such • Strongly polluting fossil fuels such as oil sands they entail. The Party for the Animals is the only Members of the public must be closely as petrol cars and flights) compounds the and shale gas will not cross European borders; political party that aims for a climate policy involved with climate policy. The government climate issues we face and will therefore be the Netherlands will do its utmost to prevent without compromise. The transition required to will organise a Climate crisis civilian banned. Warnings will be displayed at sales that. rein in the climate crisis has a significant impact committee that will act as an advisory board outlets of fossil fuels, air travel services and on all aspects of society. Major opportunities on climate measures. vehicles with fossil-fuelled engines. lie ahead for improving our standards of living, • Energy companies will be obligated to provide Plant trees for fresh air streamlining our transport sector, generating a minimum percentage of sustainable energy clean energy, and producing healthier food The polluter pays produced in the Netherlands. This percentage People and animals cannot live without trees. without asking too much from our environment. will be increased annually. We will set a limit Trees filter the air polluted by industry, the The transition to a climate-neutral society will To combat climate disruption, we want to on the emission of greenhouse gases by livestock industry and transport. Trees cool the provide new, green job opportunities on a large rapidly reduce the levels of CO2 emissions. new and existing power plants. The limit will Earth down and provide a home to countless scale, for example, in the (technical) education, However, the Netherlands is currently still almost periodically be adjusted to a lower level. animals. Trees and natural forests are invaluable construction and energy sectors. They will only entirely dependent on fossil fuels. As long as the • The use of gas for bulk consumers will for biodiversity. Trees also play a critical succeed if everyone participates and if the costs government continues to support and subsidise become more expensive over the next few role in villages and towns, to strengthen the are shared equally among all parties. The largest this energy system, we keep the traditional years, increasing the incentive to reduce biodiversity and provide cooling in a world polluters will have to pay their share for their role economy alive and hardly give sustainable gas consumption and transition to other with rising temperatures. The shade and water in causing these problems. solutions a fair chance. In the past five years, no forms of energy. By 2030, the Netherlands evaporation from one large tree provides the less than 8,3 billion euros of government support will no longer use natural gas as an energy same cooling power as 10 air conditioning units. • The Netherlands will play a leading role in are given each year to the fossil fuel industry. The source. The domestic demand for natural We need to fully invest in trees as our natural air making globally binding agreements to reduce Party for the Animals will pave the way for a quick gas will decrease through the improved conditioners. Large, old trees cool much better

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than smaller trees. Therefore, we not only have sustainable and causes air pollution. Subsidies • Given that 70% of the agricultural produce Nonetheless, the Netherlands hovers somewhere to plant new trees, but we must certainly cherish on woody biomass will be abolished. A ban is currently used for export, this significant at the bottom of the list when it comes to the our existing trees. In a country that is rapidly will be implemented on the use of biomass to cut-back in the livestock industry will allow number of nature reserves, and they are literally heating up, it is of the utmost importance to generate energy and heat. the Dutch farmer to primarily produce for being sold off en masse by the government. The plant new trees and to give older trees a future. • Economic and fiscal systems will be and supply their own region. This will lead Party for the Animals aims to keep and expand implemented in the service of a healthy to short food supply chains and a far smaller the natural areas we have left in the Netherlands. The best moment to plant a tree was 20 years planet. Laws will be implemented to ecological footprint for the agricultural sector. We want the original plans to connect nature ago, but the second-best moment is today. prevent products or financial services from • The government is committed to reducing areas (the National Ecological Network) to finally Nonetheless, Dutch forests are being chopped contributing to local and global deforestation the production and consumption of animal be implemented. This will give plant and animal down for financial gain at an alarming rate. and the destruction of ecosystems and proteins through active campaigning and species room to grow and flourish, and the Furthermore, forests suffer under the effects of species. policymaking. This is to ensure a quicker natural reserves in the Netherlands will expand climate change and drought. We need to protect, transition to a more plant-based and therefore and become less fragile. strengthen, and expand our forests and our trees. animal and climate-friendly society. Give nature room to breathe • In 2030, the emission of nitrogen (ammonia • Environmental policy will once again be a Unfortunately, the Netherlands is also largely and nitrous oxides) in the country will be 50% priority and the responsibility of the central responsible for the destruction of nature In the Netherlands, we emit far more nitrogen- lower than in 2020. These concrete goals will government instead of the provinces. It will elsewhere on Earth. Tropical rainforests, based compounds than nature can compensate be laid down by law. In areas where nature include a performance obligation for nature primaeval forests and other natural areas are for. No less than 41% of the nitrogen deposits requires even lower levels, the nitrogen conservancy, with concrete and measurable being destroyed for the production of palm oil found in protected nature reserves comes from emissions levels will be reduced even further goals and terms. and the large-scale cultivation of soybeans to the Dutch agricultural sector. The issue primarily after 2030. • The Oostvaardersplassen will no longer be the feed the hundreds of millions of animals in the concerns ammonia from animal manure and • Subsidies will no longer be available for responsibility of the Province of and Dutch livestock industry. Meanwhile, trees are urine. When the ammonia deposits itself in a technical stopgap measures used by the will become subject to central government being chopped down on a large scale abroad nearby nature reserve, it acidifies the soil, a life- livestock industry such as air washers or policy. to produce wooden pellets as fuel for biomass threatening condition for many plant and animal so-called low-emission stable systems. The • The original National Ecological Network plants in the Netherlands. We need to put a stop species. The blatant way in which the cabinet principle of the polluter pays will also apply to (EHS), a network of connected nature to this. continues to delay any decisive action in this the livestock industry. reserves, will be implemented in full by 2025 regard is intolerable. A substantial decrease in the • In and surrounding Natura 2000 areas, at the latest. Nature reserves belonging to the • Indigenous trees will be planted on a large number of animals raised, used, and slaughtered no mining activities (such as gas or salt government will not be sold. scale. This is necessary to strengthen our in the livestock industry is imperative. This will extraction) will take place. • Natural areas that have been almost natural environment and increase the storage give the natural environment room to breathe • The aviation sector will decline substantially; irreversibly damaged will be given priority, of CO2. Furthermore, planting trees in cities and recover from years of over-fertilisation and the number of flights will be reduced to a purchased, restored and where possible, will create a more pleasant climate during eutrophication. Furthermore, stricter enforcement maximum of 300,000 flights per annum in connected with other nature reserves. warmer periods. on the proper implementation of nature permits 2030. Reducing the number of flights will • Activities and projects that are conducted at the • Indigenous trees and forests will be given should take place to limit the impact of damaging lower the emission of greenhouse gases and expense of existing natural environments will protected status. industries, road construction activities, and mega- nitrogen. only be allowed to continue if they can visibly • Permit conditions for the chopping down of stables. This also applies to businesses which do and essentially contribute to the sustainability of trees will be stricter so trees will no longer not have the correct nature permits and where the the region in the long term. If sacrificing nature be felled without good reason. When a tree government has thus far turned a blind eye, such Connecting and protecting nature is deemed unavoidable, the nature lost will be absolutely must be removed, moving the as at Schiphol Airport, Lelystad Airport and many compensated in the direct vicinity with an area tree will always be considered as the primary biomass plants. Nature is of great importance for the biodiversity twice as large. The nature of the compensation option. Nesting and brooding sites of animals and well-being of people and animals. That is is to be agreed on beforehand. will be protected with an obligatory quiet • A 75% decrease in the number of animals why it is critical to ensure that there is enough period during the brooding and feeding involved in the livestock industry will give nature to safeguard the interests of every living season. Severe penalties will be placed on the the environment some breathing room. The being by creating large, interconnected areas A nature-friendly water network illegal felling of trees. livestock industry and polluting horticultural where animals can find refuge and where the • Trees are not fuel. Burning wood and wood industries, with their large-scale adoption of biodiversity can flourish. This will, in turn, The North Sea is our largest nature scraps as biomass for energy production is not poisons and chemical fertilisers, will be scaled provide enough space for people to enjoy their reserve,formerly home to an enormous diversity back at a rapid pace. natural environment. of species. Unfortunately, the region finds

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itself in dire straits. Through intensive fishing agricultural machinery can access the fields. sewer system. The proper disposal of polluted members of the public and businesses will practices, large fish such as sharks and rays have This results in compression of the soil, which water will be made compulsory. be set up to discourage the use of harmful become rare. becomes so compacted that it is no longer able • Making gardens green again will be strongly poisons. to retain water as efficiently. This causes natural encouraged. Paved areas in public spaces will • Riverbanks, dikes, and waterfronts should be • The Wadden Sea must receive the legal areas to dry out and shrivel up, increases the be reduced and replaced by plants. constructed in as natural a setting as possible, protection that this UNESCO World Heritage frequency of wildfires, reduces biodiversity even • Exemption from water tax with the use of and mowing policies will be adjusted to site deserves. Disruptive economic activities, further, causes tearing and sagging in dikes and more than 300 cubic meters of water will no accommodate the well-being of plants and such as gas extraction and fishing, will be collapse in buildings, and further decreases longer apply. A progressive water tax system animals at all times. Fauna Uittreed Plaatsen restricted. the water quality and quality of life in streams. will be implemented instead whereby bulk (FUPs, or fauna transition zones) will be • More protected sea reserves will be Moreover, the agricultural sector is a bulk consumers, such as the chemical and food implemented in areas with elevated quays so implemented. In these areas, fishing, gas consumer of groundwater, surface water and tap production sectors, will pay the costs of their animals can exit the water. extraction or other detrimental activities water for irrigation. With these extremely low high levels of water consumption. • The natural environment will be protected will be prohibited, allowing plants and fish water levels, long periods of drought, and the from risks during shipping accidents. to recover. Areas such as the Friese Font, uneven distribution of water, animals and nature • Ecologically valuable shipwrecks will be Oosterschelde Nature Reserve and the are being threatened. Through the oxidation of Water as a driving force of nature protected. Centrale Oestergronden will be granted full peat, each year more and more CO2 is released • The guaranteed seats on the water boards, protection. from peat bogs (the equivalent of the emissions Clean surface and groundwater should be a which until now have been reserved for • For the restoration and conservation of marine from 2 million cars) and homes in the surrounding given, but the reality shows otherwise. Surface farmers, businesses and management ecosystems, the ‘no, unless’-principle will be areas are in danger of collapse. water is polluted by agricultural poisons, organisations will be abolished. Water adopted immediately for economic activities. medicine residues, chemical waste products, and boards will have a democratic distribution of • In the Nature Conservancy Law, the The Party for the Animals wants to prioritise the microplastics along with manure and hormones members. protection of various endangered migratory optimal protection and conservation of nature in from the livestock industry. As a result, plants fish and sea mammals will be restored. The terms of water distribution. A decisive climate and animals die, and the fresh water supply is in creation of opportunities for fish to migrate policy is also an essential condition for the jeopardy. The North Sea and the Wadden Sea are Protection of nature in the Dutch Caribbean will be a strict condition. If there are any prevention of drought. not only affected by pollution (through plastics, barriers, facilities such as fish traps will be chemicals etc.) but also by overfishing. Fishing Bonaire, Saba, and Sint-Eustatius are special implemented, allowing fish to pass. • Through a natural water level and the practices extensively damage the seafloor. municipalities of the Netherlands and islands • Each year, millions of fish die in pumping equitable distribution of water, we can return Many fish species are facing extinction. If our boasting a rich diversity of plant and animal stations. Locks and pumping stations will water management to a healthy state. This freshwater and groundwater sources are clean species. They are home to coral reefs, rare wild be adapted so that fish can swim past them. is beneficial to the diversity of species and and the fishermen are barred from exploiting orchids and more than 10,000 animal species, Fishing in the vicinities of these fish passages could be the salvation for woodland bird the seas, then marine life can recover from this including flamingos, iguanas and sea turtles. will be immediately forbidden. Fish migration species, many of whom are now dying from enormous loss in biodiversity. This unique nature and its many animal species routes to and from the sea will be made safe malnutrition in part because of long periods of are under threat from overfishing, climate for fish, and the Haringvlietsluizen will be drought. • Businesses that pollute the water will be change, the acidification of seawater through the opened further. • Groundwater levels will no longer be kept dealt with. The central government takes absorption of CO2, dredging activities, erosion, • A water connection and fish migration route artificially low to benefit the agricultural control of the supervision and enforcement tourism, and poor wastewater management. will be constructed between the Ijsselmeer sector. This will give nature reserves that are of environmental laws. More capacity and and the Markermeer. sensitive to drought a chance to recover. Peat expertise will be made available to the • The central government will contribute to the bogs will be infused with fresh water and can supervisors. The fines will be increased conservation, protection and strengthening serve as a climate buffer. significantly and in proportion to the turnover of the natural environment on and around Drought in the watery Netherlands • No longer will water be sluiced away for of the fined businesses. the Dutch Caribbean islands through legal the agricultural sector (for example through • The intensive fertilisation of agricultural areas measures, enforcement, and financial More and more areas in the Netherlands are the unlimited use of water wells). A nature- will be put to a halt. support. suffering from drought due to climate change friendly water policy will manage the • The enforcement of and control over the use • Protecting the coral reefs is of the utmost and an artificially suppressed water level. The distribution of water, where nature is given of pesticides will be intensified. The sale importance. The sale and import of groundwater level is deliberately kept low in priority over agriculture. of pesticides for private individuals will be sunscreens containing oxybenzone will be many agricultural areas so increasingly massive • Rainwater run-off will be separated from the banned, and an educational campaign for forbidden to preserve the coral reefs.

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• The central government will invest in the rapid implementation of proper wastewater treatment facilities on the islands. These facilities will meet Dutch and European standards and combat the disastrous effect of wastewater on coral reefs. • Activities that are detrimental to the biodiversity in the region will not be financed with Dutch taxpayers’ money. • Wild and stray animals living on the islands, such as donkeys, dogs, and cats, will be given optimal protection. Dogs and cats must be microchipped, and the central government will finance a sterilisation and neutering program to reduce the number of stray animals. • The central government will provide sufficient funds to look after wounded or ill animals or other animals in need of help in specialised shelters.

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Animals have the right to live according to their nature Animals are often viewed simply as ‘things’ that are secondary to the interests of human beings. However, animals — just like people — are conscious individuals with feelings. We share the same habitat, yet we can only speak of gross injustice. Many animals suffer in deplorable circumstances because they have been bred, traded, used, chased away, hunted and killed by humans. In our country each year, more than 600 million animals die after enduring a miserable existence in the livestock industry, all in the name of short-term economic profit. The Party for the Animals wants to put an end to the exploitation of animals. We will work towards a society where as few animals as possible are exploited by people.

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Animals have an intrinsic value and deserve Animals in the livestock industry public. There is a large gap between the terrible figures about animals in the livestock their due rights. A drastic re-evaluation of our truth for hundreds of millions of animals in the industry fully and clearly and publicise them relationship with animals is also in the interest of The Party for the Animals wants to ultimately livestock and fishing industries and the positive in an accessible manner. Such statistics human beings. For many of the world’s biggest liberate animals from the food chain. In the image portrayed to the public. Free-range eggs, will include the number of animals that die problems — such as climate change, loss of meantime, the suffering of animals in the for example, don’t come from chickens that are prematurely in the stables or arrive dead at biodiversity, and the depletion of the soil — the livestock industry must be limited as much as permitted to ‘range freely’ out of doors, but from the after transport. livestock industry has been shown to be one of possible. Appetising plant-based and sustainable chickens who spend their entire lives cooped up • Meat, dairy and egg products will be clearly the biggest culprits. Moreover, the coronavirus alternatives for meat products provide hope for in an overcrowded barn. Through these sorts of marked with a label showing where the animal crisis has demonstrated that our health is the animals and for our future. The government misleading campaigns, many consumers have involved was born, how and how long it lived directly at risk if we keep viewing animals as must be actively involved in realising this no clue about the reality behind the product. and — in the case of meat products — where something that we can simply catch, breed, or transition to plant-based foods as quickly as In advertisements and on the packaging, these and how the animal was slaughtered. A QR kill. The coronavirus is a zoonoses, an illness possible. The Party for the Animals wants to animals look happy, content, and healthy. The code will appear on meat products with a that is transferred from animals to humans. provide proper education about the suffering and same goes for, for instance, pigs, cows, lambs, stream to the slaughterhouse where the Scientists warn that zoonoses comprise 75% deaths of animals, which is currently hidden from ducks, and rabbits. This is in stark contrast to animal was killed so consumers can judge the of all new infectious diseases that threaten the consumers. reality. slaughtering process for themselves. health of humankind today. Furthermore, these types of illnesses will continue to proliferate if The Party for the Animals wants to put an end we continue to breed and kill this many animals An end to the livestock industry to misleading information about the origins of Animals have the right to behave naturally in the livestock industry, or if we continue to animal products. The government must ensure trade in wild animals and keep applying pressure How animals are kept in the current livestock full disclosure and education about what The way in which animals are kept in the livestock to our environment and the climate. Zoonoses industry is unethical and unsustainable. Many animals in the livestock industry go through industry is absolutely unacceptable. For example, such as MRSA, Q fever, bird flu and the Mexican animals often do not even see the light of day. before their meat or their products end up on millions of ducks never even see daylight, and they flu have already made it clear that it is in our The sheer number of animals currently raised for the supermarket shelves. Consumers have the have no water to swim or bathe in. The first time own interest to put a stop to the exploitation meat, dairy and egg production is so enormous right to know the real story behind milk and in their lives that they see water is when they are of animals. A safer world for animals is a safer that no single environmental or animal welfare cheese production. Journalists should also be electrocuted in a water bath. Calves and kids are world for humans. measure can stand up to the myriad problems given better access to information about what removed from their mothers immediately after this gives rise to. The number of animals bred happens in the livestock industry. For example, birth, so the mother’s milk can be consumed by and killed for consumption will drastically a cow in the dairy industry is made pregnant people. Animal rights in the Constitution decrease. We need to bring the livestock industry each year, and her calves are taken away from to a halt as quickly as possible. her shortly after birth. The young bulls and The Party for the Animals wants the right for Animals deserve to be treated with respect and female calves that are not kept as dairy cows are animals to behave naturally to be established by compassion. In practice, however, animals rarely • First, the number of animals in the livestock fattened before being slaughtered to produce law. Chickens should be able to take a dust bath, enjoy legal protection. Take, for example, stable industry will be reduced by at least 75%. veal. As Paul McCartney once aptly said: ‘If pigs should be able to root around in the ground, fires. We have fire safety rules for the production • Legal measures will be put in place to had glass walls, everyone would and cows and goats should be allowed to graze of toilet rolls, but no rules for live animals in guarantee the fire safety of stables, such as be vegetarian.’ outside instead of being locked up in stables. The a stable. It is an absurd political choice that a limit on the number of animals per stable, Party for the Animals wants all animals to be able generates tens of thousands of victims each year. mandatory sprinkler or water mist installations, • There will be an end to misleading communi- to live as they would in nature, and they should be Once animals have rights, can compulsory emergency exits such as cation, euphemisms, and advertising surroun- given the space and the opportunity to do so. be prevented or punished. retractable walls, and a ban on air washers. ding animal products. • The government will ensure the availability • All animals in the livestock industry should be • Animal rights will be recognised and recorded of unbiased imagery of the reality in stables, able to graze in the fields and have sufficient in the Constitution. The real story about animal suffering in slaughterhouses and the fishing industry and shelter from weather conditions such as heat • The Animals Act will be replaced by a more the livestock industry actively make these available to the public. and rain. In the stable, animals should have comprehensive animal protection act, where The government will also provide high-qua- enough space, hay, and diversion. They should the intrinsic value and the natural behaviour Every government agrees that consumers should lity, accurate public information about what be able to isolate themselves or socialise as of animals are no longer subject to economic know where their food comes from. However, the animals go through in the name of animal they wish. interests. everyday reality behind the production of meat, products. • Calves and lambs will no longer be taken dairy, eggs, and fish is actively withheld from the • The government will register facts and away from their mothers after childbirth but

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remain with their mothers in the fields and pregnancy will be put to an end. for chickens and CO2 sedation for pigs will be wounded. Young animals are orphaned, drink the milk that is meant for them. That • The Netherlands will commit themselves abolished immediately. partnerships are cruelly interrupted, and group should also apply to the young bulls, rams, within the EU to ban the production of foie • Livestock markets cause a lot of animal stress hierarchy and population dynamics are literally and male goats. gras (goose or duck liver) and will implement and suffering and will be prohibited. shot to pieces. The Party for the Animals wants • Maternity stalls where sows are boxed in a trade and import ban on these products. the cruel of animals to end and to give between rails will be banned. Sows will animals the room to live freely in their natural be allowed to nestle and take care of their Fish feel pain environment. piglets. Mitigate animal suffering during transport • There will be no more painful procedures such and in slaughterhouses For a long time, people thought that fish • The intrinsic value and the protection of as the castration of piglets, the burning or were incapable of feeling pain. Today there is animals in the wild will be a guiding principle cutting of tails, the filing of teeth and the de- Animals should be transported as little as irrefutable proof that fish can indeed experience in policymaking decisions from now on. budding of cows and goats. possible. And if they are to be transported pain and stress and are conscious beings. Fish • Animals living in the wild will not be killed. • A ban will be implemented on the gassing of and slaughtered, they should experience that are trapped in nets or are caught by hooks Only in the case of urgent and overriding newly born roosters in the egg industry. as little suffering and stress as possible. An (long lines) experience a gruesome struggle reasons, such as when an animal is suffering • The production of white veal will be animal-friendly slaughter method doesn’t exist. before death. The Party for the Animals is intensely or the public health is at risk, prohibited. It is unacceptable that anaemic Suffering during the slaughtering process must committed to banning all catching and killing can the government make an exception calves are deliberately made ill by force- be prevented as much as possible as long as methods that involve long, drawn-out, and severe after consulting with independent experts. feeding them with an iron-deficient diet slaughterhouses continue to exist. suffering and end in fully conscious slaughter. Exceptions can only be made by the central simply to produce this type of meat. government, not by provincial governing • There will be a ban on the breeding and • The ban on the slaughter of animals without • We want to eliminate cast-net fishing. Fish bodies. keeping of animals if their natural needs anaesthetic will apply to everyone: the such as porpoises become entangled in these • The national list of huntable species will be cannot be met, or if severe suffering takes exception made for the religious slaughtering vertical nets, causing them to drown. abolished. There will be a ban on the killing of place as a result. Duck and rabbit farms will of animals will be revoked. Meanwhile, if • The live boiling of animals such as lobsters, animals living in the wild by amateur hunters. be prohibited in any case. the slaughter takes place without sedation, crabs, and shrimp and the sale of live animals The Nature Conservancy Law will be adjusted the product should be labelled as such. Un- for consumption will be banned. to include legislature that truly protects our anaesthetised slaughter is out of the question • Existing fish farms will be independently natural environment. Stop fattening animals for the export or regular domestic market. assessed for animal welfare and sustainability. • The entrapment of animals in the wild, the • Animal transport will last no longer than Fish farms that do not pass this assessment release of animals for hunting purposes, and Many animals have been methodically bred so two hours. Animals may not be transported will be shut down. illegal hunting practices will be dealt with they can be fattened up in just a few weeks. This on warm days (i.e. days with an expected • The slaughtering of fish without sedation will through more field surveillance and harsher results in serious health issues. Fattened chickens temperature of 25 degrees Celsius or higher). be forbidden. penalties. Lifelong hunting bans for hunters are unable to remain upright, and cows with fat A much stricter control and enforcement of • Sportfishing (angling) is a pastime that causes who break the law will more easily be applied rumps are no longer able to carry calves natural- the Dutch and European transport regulations profound animal suffering and will therefore than has been the case up until now. ly. An animal-worthy existence also means that will be implemented. be banned. • Hunting surveillance parties will not be in the animals should be able to reproduce naturally • Transport of live animals to countries outside service of the hunters that they supervise. without repeated artificial insemination. the EU, such as Turkey and China, will no Fauna management units (hunting clubs) will longer be allowed. The import and transfer Give the animals space; stop the hunt be abolished. • Breeding for extremely rapid growth (chicken of animals through the EU from, for example, • The organisation of tourist hunting events and pigs) or high yield (dairy cows) will be the United States to China, will end. Day-old The Party for the Animals wants animals that live both nationally and internationally will be banned. chicks will no longer be exported and flown in the wild to be left alone as much as possible. forbidden, as will the advertisement for these • A maximum ‘product yield’ will be around the world. The habitat of animals is becoming increasingly activities. implemented per animal. • Livestock transport lorries will be equipped smaller. When humans encroach on that habitat, • Animals will not be allowed to be disturbed • There will be a ban on the insemination of with a GPS tracking system, regardless of the the animals are blamed for any inconvenience during delicate periods such as gestation, animals. length of the transport. caused. That is absurd. Amateur hunters kill two moulting, breeding and feeding periods. • There will be a ban on artificial methods of • The import of young calves for the fattening million animals every year in the Netherlands • A nation-wide network for the care of seed harvesting. of calves for veal will come to an end. under the guise of ‘population management’. A wounded animals in the wild will be set up. • The systematic breeding of sows to produce • Slaughtering and sedation methods that cause similar number of animals are shot and grievously Hunters will no longer be involved in this increasingly large numbers of piglets per pain and fear, such as the water bath method

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network because of their double agenda. ill or pregnant animals being slaughtered, despite registration of antibiotics, publicly available. • The fields surrounding the airports will no • Animals will be given the space, quiet and it being strictly forbidden. Or that animals in the • Earmarking animals will no longer be longer hold crops that are attractive to geese protection to allow them to live naturally. slaughterhouse are still conscious as they are obligatory. As long as these rules still apply, but will be filled with solar panels or crops Nature reserves will be connected to make being killed. Finally, we see that slaughterhouses conscientious objectors will be exempt from that will deter geese. A significant reduction migration possible and keep populations in are becoming hotbeds for the spread of the the earmark obligation. The cabinet will plead in the number of flights will also provide equilibrium. coronavirus. The rate of slaughter needs to at a European level for the development breathing room for both people and animals. • Wolves will be considered an enrichment drastically decrease. and implementation of an animal-friendlier • The gassing of animals living in the wild, to the Dutch national environment and a alternative such as microchip registration. including geese, will be prohibited. Geese contribution to increased biodiversity. Sheep • Stables and slaughterhouses will be placed • Animal welfare will be a priority during the in the areas surrounding airports will, if farmers and farmers will be educated on under permanent camera surveillance. This training and mobilisation of police dogs and required, be lured away to more attractive how to protect their animals without having measure will be implemented in addition to police horses. Other methods for riot control areas where they can safely remain. to kill the wolves. For preventive measures, on-site checks by veterinarians carried out by will be developed so horses will no longer need • Farmers will only be compensated for any subsidies will be provided where necessary. the NVWA. to be deployed during riots. Studies will be inconvenience if they have used animal-friendly • The King will stop his hunting practices, and • The Dutch Food and Consumer Product conducted into which alternatives are available measures to try to mitigate the damage and the Royal Hunting Department will no longer Safety Authority (NVWA) will be restructured. for deploying dogs as a mean of violence. have been unsuccessful in doing so. be subsidised. The Crown Estates will be open Any members of management and NVWA • Each year, some 50,000 muskrats and coypu year-round to the public. employees who refuse to implement new meet a gruesome death in a trap or by measures will be removed. The department Prevention is better than cure drowning. This must stop. The government will no longer fall under the Ministry of must commit itself to implement preventive Proper supervision and strict enforcement Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; it will Human beings have thrown nature and its measures and increased dyke surveillance. be placed under the responsibility of the ecosystems off balance. Nature reserves • Roads and village centres will be fenced The monitoring of animal welfare needs to be Ministry of Health. have become fragmented and increasingly off from boars and deer. Speed limits will re-assessed. The Party for the Animals will see • The monitoring of all the links in the livestock less diverse. This paves the way for the be implemented at night on roads in and to it that more unannounced checks take place, supply chain will be intensified and will be development of plagues. Animals such as the oak surrounding nature preserves. both in the livestock industry as in other spheres placed in the hands of the government rather processionary caterpillar benefit from this trend. • Refuse attracts animals. Litter and illegally where animals and humans meet. Violation of than under the control of the sector itself. In a healthy ecosystem, great tits, woodpeckers, dumped waste will be actively dealt with. the rules will be punished stringently. To improve • The rate at which animals are processed bugs and bats keep the caterpillar population in • Alternative nesting sites for seagulls and enforcement, the Party for the Animals wants through slaughterhouses will be decreased check. However, the monocultural planting of pigeons will be made available to prevent the legislation to be clarified and made more substantially. The number of animals that will oak trees and the removal of shrubs have made them from becoming a nuisance in urban concrete. Open-ended norms and self-regulation be slaughtered will be adjusted according these natural predators a minority. Moreover, areas. leave too much room for discussion and often to the level of surveillance the NVWA great tits are suffering significantly from the • Stray cats will not be killed, but captured, makes enforcement impossible. Moreover, any can guarantee. That number is far smaller measures taken to counter the rise of the box spayed or neutered, and returned to their imposed sanctions can easily be appealed when than we see today. To prevent fraud and tree moth. Many municipalities have chosen to habitat. This will prevent an increase in the law is not clear on the matter. The animals do corruption from taking place, controllers burn, vacuum or poison the oak processionary homeless cat populations in an animal-friendly not benefit from legal ambiguities. will rotate between slaughterhouses. There caterpillars. The Party for the Animals would like manner. will no longer be one assigned controller per an animal friendly and environmentally friendly • Avenues and streets lined with oak trees will Reams of research reports have shown that the slaughterhouse. approach through investments in restoring the be made attractive to natural predators of the supervision of the livestock industry has failed in • Slaughterhouses in severe violation of these balance in natural ecosystems. processionary caterpillar by planting shrubs every aspect. An important reason for this failure measures will close immediately. Employees and implementing nesting boxes. The use of is the enormous number of animals involved found guilty of cruelty to animals in addition The gassing of geese in the areas surrounding poison and sticky bands around tree trunks is in the livestock industry. Animals are being to the suffering they have to endure in the airports is cruel and senseless, especially not a solution. It kills many natural predators processed through slaughterhouses at breakneck slaughterhouse will be permanently banned because the agricultural lands surrounding the of the oak processionary caterpillar, poisons speed. This rules out the possibility of adequate from carrying out their profession. runways are sown with crops that are attractive the environment and is detrimental to animal supervision. All this while the incredible speed • Upon violation, the NVWA will immediately to geese. The Party for the Animals wants to use welfare. has significant consequences for the animals, for impose large fines proportional to the smart, practical and animal-friendly methods • There is no such thing as a ‘beaver problem’. food safety and for the welfare of slaughterhouse turnover of the slaughterhouse and will make to prevent further inconvenience and protect No exemptions will be made to kill these employees. There are increasing occurrences of the details of the checks, as well as their animals. protected animals.

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Animals and their pelts are not a leather used must be clearly labelled. The animals will be given top priority. are sources of impermissible amounts of pain, fashion accessory import and sale of leather from animals that • The Dolphinarium and aquariums will be stress, and death among animals. Moreover, the are solely bred for the leather industry such closed. Some locations may perhaps serve as majority (85%) of animal tests that are conducted Fur, down and angora are examples of luxury as crocodiles, snakes, kangaroos and lizards, a (temporary) shelter for stranded or illegally do not lead to useful results; humans and animals products that are responsible for unacceptable will be prohibited. traded marine animals or mammals. simply differ too much from each other on a cruelty to animals. The use of the pelts of • Stricter legal restrictions will be implemented biological level. That why it important to cease animals for fashion or accessory purposes is, for the welfare of animals in petting zoos, with the practice of , not only from an therefore, morally reprehensible. The manner Animals are not an entertainment the natural behaviour of the animals as the animal welfare standpoint but also because of an in which animals such as mink are kept for commodity norm. Animals are not stuffed toys, and they urgent need for better models. Methods that do the production of fur is not only cruel, but it will be given the freedom to live peacefully, not use animals provide better and more reliable poses a significant threat for the public health What zoos, circuses, falconry shows, and without always being lifted or petted by results in many cases. In areas where animal-free through the spread of infectious diseases such the Dolphinarium all have in common is that people. testing methods are not available, they need to as the coronavirus. The breeding of mink for fur they exploit domesticated and wild animals in • The ban on the use of wild animals as a source be developed. The Netherlands has the potential production will be forbidden in the Netherlands captivity for the entertainment of people and of entertainment, such as in circuses and to be a driving force in the field of animal-free in 2021. This measure is in part thanks to the commercial profit. Breeding programs in zoos do parks, will be expanded to include research. The Party for the Animals wants years of dedication of the Party for the Animals not substantially contribute to the preservation mammals and marine mammals, reptiles, investments for alternative methods for animal to implementing this measure. That is good of endangered species and are primarily driven amphibians, and birds. No animal belongs in a testing research to be given the highest priority. news because animals are now no longer raised by other motives: new-born animals always draw circus. in the Netherlands for the production of fur. visitors. What many people do not know is that • Traditions and festivals in which animals are • The Netherlands will commit itself to behind the scenes, many animals in zoos live used or killed, such as living nativity scenes, propagate the international recognition of and Not only fur pelts but also the production of a miserable life. So-called surplus animals that ‘zwientje tikken’ (playing tag with a pig), and the application of animal-free research and down and various types of wool, such as angora are considered ‘superfluous’ by zoos and petting kallemooi with live roosters will be abolished. testing methods. and Merino wool, involves severe cruelty to zoos waste away in small cages hidden from the • A decree on horses will be implemented • Research conducted using primates should animals. For example, the fur of the angora public. where the basic principles for horse welfare be banned as quickly as possible. A plan (with rabbit is violently stripped, shorn or cut away will be legally established. Horses will be a time schedule) will be drawn up to close from the live animal. Geese and ducks are Thankfully, real animals in exhibitions, shows and given room for natural and social herd the BPRC primate research at the earliest plucked alive for the collection of down. The films are increasingly being replaced by artful behaviour and the opportunity to move freely convenience. Party for the Animals wants to end every form alternatives or computer animations. This allows in the open air every day. Harmful training • The practice of breeding and killing testing of animal cruelty for the production of materials the public to enjoy them without having animals aides and methods will be banned, and a animals for storage management purposes for the fashion industry: The Netherlands will suffer. The Party for the Animals wants to end the minimum age will be set at which ponies and will be abolished. become down and fur-free! suffering of animals for entertainment purposes. horses can bear burdens. • Biotechnology applications in animals — • A code of conduct will be drawn up for the including genetic manipulation and cloning — • The Netherlands will commit itself to a • Surplus animals should immediately be given use of animals in art and media. will be banned. European-wide breeding ban for animals that the space they need. Breeding animals with • Sports and competitions that involve the • Judges will be in a position to test compliance are used for the production of fur and down. the intent to populate zoos, shows and petting killing and exploitation of animals, such as with the Animal testing act. Members of the • The import and sale of fur and angora will be zoos should stop immediately. Young and camel races, pigeon racing, angling, and the public and civil institutions will be allowed to prohibited. new-born animals should no longer be used as collection of lapwing eggs, will be banned. object to animal testing proposals. • The import and sale of down from live- a major attraction. • It will no longer be possible for animals to be • The budget that is reserved every year plucked and force-fed geese and ducks will • The chaining of wild animals, such as rented out. for animal testing will incrementally be be forbidden. elephants and birds of prey, will be banned transferred to research methods that do not • As long as fur products are still allowed to immediately. When returning them to their use animal testing. be sold, clear labelling will be compulsory. natural habitat is no longer an option, animals No animal should be a guinea pig. Stop This label will include information about its in shelters will be given as much space as they animal testing origins, the number of animals that have need in as natural an environment as possible. Pets been killed to produce the product and how • Zoos will be converted to specialised shelters. Experiments on animals should be stopped these animals were killed. Instead of putting financial interests or the as soon as possible. The tests and the Half of the households in the Netherlands have • On leather products, the origins of the interests of visitors first, the welfare of the accommodations of animals used in testing one or more pets. Besides dogs and cats, exotic

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animals are also kept as pets, animals which are isolation will be prohibited, as will the sale of animals, such as a permit to make use of bus • The further sale of confiscated animals for absolutely not suited to domestic environments. fishbowls and cages or kennels that are too and tram lanes and the right to park freely. retail or slaughtering purposes will be banned. Their needs and instincts are, after all, similar small. New pet owners will actively be offered • Saving will be given due • A ban will be placed on the keeping of animals to those of their peers in the wild. The domestic information about animal welfare standards consideration in the plans and scenarios of by animal abusers. People who abuse animals environment cannot meet those needs. The Party and rules. emergency services. can, in addition to a fine, be prevented from for the Animals wants to draw up a short list of • A short ‘positive list’ will be drawn up of • When people living at home require care, keeping animals for a certain period. animals that, given their natural behaviours and animals that, given their natural behaviour adequate care should also be given to any • Anyone convicted of animal cruelty or needs, may still be kept as domestic pets. Other and needs, are suitable to be kept as domestic animals present. People will also be able negligence may also receive a lifelong ban, animals will not be owned or sold. pets. to bring their pets along with them to a in addition to harsher penalties and more • Markets where animals are sold or displayed, healthcare institution. substantial fines. Anyone who has been Many animals are sold as pets through such as horse and bird markets, will be • In shelters for victims of domestic abuse, banned professionally or has repeatedly been breeders. The breeding of purebred animals forbidden, as will online pet animal markets or space will also be provided for their pets convicted of animal abuse or negligence primarily focuses on the animals’ appearance, websites. when necessary. If required, pets will be abroad will also be prohibited from keeping not their health or their welfare. Dogs and placed with a host family. animals in the Netherlands. cats with a short snout and a small head are • Animal care is not a luxury service, it is a • Social workers in domestic violence situations bred to accentuate those features. This leads Pet care, shelters, and emergency services necessity: just like medical care for people, will also be trained to recognise signs of to breathing difficulties, chronic headaches veterinary care will also be exempt from VAT. animal abuse and negligence. and epileptic seizures. Furthermore, tens of Each year, tens of thousands of pets, many of thousands of dogs are produced by fraudulent which have often been purchased on a whim, breeders and puppy mills in large barns both in end up in animal shelters. Unwanted new-born A more rigorous approach to animal abuse Protection of wild animals across the globe the Netherlands and abroad. These practices pets are also regularly brought to or dumped at a need to be dealt with resolutely. shelter. The care for found or unwanted animals The Party for the Animals wants animal abuse Each year, millions of endangered animal species falls under the jurisdiction of the municipality, and animal negligence to be dealt with harshly. are illegally distributed around the world. They • Breeding pets to accentuate extreme physical but they often fail to do so. That is why it is Anyone who abuses animals should no longer be end up in dubious ‘medicines’, exotic meals or as characteristics will not be permitted, and primarily hardworking volunteers that run the allowed to keep animals. Studies have shown that wall ornaments. After the drug trade, the trade in neither will in-breeding. The sale and import animal shelters and refuges with donations from there is a clear correlation between domestic endangered species is the second most lucrative of these animals will be forbidden. private individuals. The financial support from violence and animal abuse. Violence towards form of criminal activity, and its victims are • The import of foreign puppies from breeding government institutions for animal shelters is people is often preceded by violence toward numerous. The illegal wildlife trade can also lead barns will be banned. This will be intensely often minimal or completely absent. The Party animals. The Party for the Animals wants the to infectious diseases that are transmitted from monitored in collaboration with our for the Animals wants the government to take police and the justice department to give more animals to humans. The new coronavirus has neighbouring countries. responsibility and provide financial support for priority to tracking down and bringing to justice made clear how dangerous this ‘business sector’ • The minimum age at which kittens may be animal shelters and ambulances. cases of animal abuse and animal negligence, is for human health. However, the chance of separated from their mother will be increased and that a public prosecutor for animal-related getting caught engaging in this type of criminal to 12 weeks. • Nation-wide guidelines will be developed cases is appointed. activity is low. Enforcement is weak, and the • The obligation to microchip dogs will be for the financing of animal shelters and penalties are minor. extended to cats as well. wild animal refuge shelters. The central • More animal police officers will be appointed • Pet shops will be encouraged to stop the government, provinces and municipalities will with sufficient authority to track down and The Netherlands is seen as the beating heart of sale of animals. Instead, they can refer their provide sufficient financial support. arrest people who have abused an animal. the illegal animal trade in its role as an important customers to animal shelters or animal • The pet sector will contribute to the shelter Animal welfare should once again become transit hub. It is estimated that hundreds of refuges. and care of unwanted and found animals. For a standard part of the police training. The thousands of exotic animals cross Dutch borders • The sale of animals via the Internet, garden every pet sold, a contribution will be made to animal police will also be given the authority every year. The Party for the Animals wants a centres, and other locations will be forbidden an animal shelter fund. to monitor the welfare of animals in the European import ban on wild animals to put a to discourage impulse buying. Animal shelters • The animal shelter and ambulance network livestock industry. stop to the trade and to protect endangered will be exempted from this ban. will have national coverage. • The law will be amended to allow quicker species. Targeted tracking, robust enforcement • Minimum standards will be set for animal • Animal ambulances, just like other emergency confiscation of neglected and abused animals and high penalties for illegal traders must drive supplies such as kennels and cages. Keeping services, will be granted additional licenses to so they can receive professional care and back this ruthless criminal network. naturally social animals such as rabbits in be able to offer quick emergency assistance to shelter.

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• The import of and sale of exotic animals will be banned, and a watertight permit system will be implemented. The Netherlands will actively commit itself on the international stage with CITES. • The tracking down and enforcement of the illegal trade in endangered species will be intensified. A specialised task force will be put together with sufficient scope and sufficient mandate. Illegal traders will be punished more severely, and the hunting tourism industry and import of hunting trophies will be banned altogether. • The Netherlands will actively provide opposition to the hunting of whales and seals. It will spearhead international protests against these types of slaughter. The Netherlands will plead with the International Whaling Committee (IWC) for a hunting ban on all smaller whale-like species, banning the hunt on dolphins as well. The Netherlands will actively oppose the slaughter of dolphins on the Faroe Islands and in Japan. • The Netherlands and its trading economy have become an important transit hub for whale meat and other unwanted animal products. The Netherlands will ban the transit of these products. • The Netherlands will commit itself to a total ban on the fishing of bluefin tuna and other tuna species and shark finning.

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Only sustainable agriculture can provide healthy food for everyone Healthy and sustainable nutrition is a basic need for our existence. And although our fully stocked supermarkets paint a different picture, the current agricultural system does not meet this basic need. The agriculture sector is heading towards a dead end. The nitrogen crisis and the enormous growth of the number of people that choose to eat more plant-based foods have made it clear that we have reached a turning point. The way we think about food and about the values that we feel are important when it comes to dealing with food, are about to undergo a radical change. Since the very beginning, the Party for the Animals has always been a driving force for this positive change. We will continue to fulfil this role, especially now when we have so many opportunities available to turn the tide. We are on the threshold of a food revolution.

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And not a moment too soon. The current dependent on a system that has turned against but not with the cultivation of plant-based and animal products the exception. The agricultural system is doomed to collapse. Yet, them. proteins such as the nitrogen crisis and other successful concept ‘Carnivore? Let us know!’ this system has been propped up far too long problems. Therefore, the first critical choice for (‘Carnivoor? Geef het door!’, a campaign with a lot of time, effort and taxpayers’ money. The issues facing the agricultural sector are, a sustainable food system is removing animals to change food consumption patterns by Now we are all reaping its bitter fruits. For therefore, significant, but that is no reason to from the food chain and saying goodbye to the serving plant-based food at catered events by example, the Netherlands has grown into the give up. On the contrary! In no other domain livestock industry. default unless attendees specifically request country most densely populated with livestock. can we gain as much ground for animals, nature, otherwise) is fully encouraged and will be Nowhere else in the world will you find so many the environment, farmers and our health, as The second misconception is that a small, adopted in all government agencies. animals cooped up over such a small area, and in the choices we can make about our food densely populated country like the Netherlands • The millions of euros in subsidies for animal the animals are paying the price. But farmers consumption. When we use this turning point to could become the second-largest food export products can be spent far more efficiently. We and citizens are also paying an irresponsibly high start heading in the right direction, we can give economy in the world. Numerous studies have will convert them into campaigns aimed at price. In a country that breeds and slaughters everyone access to healthy and sustainable food shown that land prices and other costs are too promoting a plant-based diet. more than 640 million animals on an annual sources while freeing up agricultural lands. We high in a country like the Netherlands to be • School milk programs will be discontinued. basis, the risk of zoonoses – including Q fever, can return those lands to nature and use them able to compete with bulk producers at a low • Plant-based alternatives for meat, fish, dairy bird flu and swine flu – are larger than life. The to build the homes we so desperately need in price. Therefore, the second critical choice and eggs have increased significantly over the impact of the coronavirus shows how important the Netherlands. We can turn the tide on the that we should make is that we start producing past few years. We will build on this success it is to protect ourselves from these diseases. The biodiversity and climate crisis and ensure that predominantly for the local market. by encouraging and providing full support for environment and climate, the soil, our drinking farming expertise, quality and the human factor these innovations. Cultivated alternatives may water, and our health creak and groan under again become the agricultural sector’s standard. • We will change course to a sustainable plant- also be encouraged, provided that they do the burden of inconceivably large amounts of This is the systemic change that lies at the heart based future. First, the number of animals not make use of calf serum or other products manure. A decrease in the number of animals of the Party for the Animals’ mission. The time in the livestock industry will be reduced by associated with animal suffering. in the livestock industry would be the obvious is ripe, and the time is now. Let’s move ahead to 75%. We will use financial resources such answer, but reducing the number of animals has a healthy food system for citizens and farmers as European agricultural subsidies to help been considered taboo for decades. The only alike! farmers transition to a sustainable, plant- From trade policy to food policy decrease we saw was in the number of livestock based food production system. farmers. Over the past 20 years, almost half of • Dutch farmers will be producing primarily for Positive change often arises from questioning livestock farmers were forced to throw in the Critical choices: stop the livestock industry the local market: we will stop production for errors in reasoning. Food is incorrectly viewed towel. Small-scale businesses disappeared, and Stop producing for the world market export. as a trade commodity, as a means to drive up the companies that remained continued to grow • We will save the taxpayer lots of money the gross domestic product. The Party for the in terms of both size and the number of animals. A fundamental change requires the courage to and reduce the regulatory pressures on Animals is firmly against this principle: food is put an end to that which is no longer feasible. farmers by putting an end to treating a human right. The central question should not The farmers themselves do not benefit much in Our foundering agricultural model thrives on two symptoms. Subsidies will not be spent on be how we can make a profit from food, but Dutch agriculture’s so-called ‘successful business major misconceptions. The first misconception technological stop-gap measures to mitigate how can we ensure that everyone has access to model’. Due to a lack of political will to tackle is that the exploitation of animals will lead the environmental damage caused by the healthy and sustainable food. the root of these problems, agricultural policy to more food. That is not true. The livestock livestock industry. That policy has clearly has completely derailed. Instead of reducing industry is not a producer of food but a waste failed, and we don’t expect it to succeed in • We will develop a food policy, where the the number of animals, past governments have of food. Anyone raising animals for food has to the future. Those subsidies will now be made right to food and the position of sustainable only focused on the treatment of symptoms ensure that these animals are well-fed. This costs available for a far better solution: to help farming play a central role. and invented increasingly unwieldy rules much more in terms of food than it generates farmers make the transition to genuinely • The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food and regulations; anything to prevent any real in terms of meat and dairy products. And we sustainable agriculture. Quality will be disbanded. A Minister of Food reform in the agricultural system. As a result, create a surplus of manure to boot. If we use • Healthy plant-based food will become and Agriculture will be appointed. farmers were forced into a downward spiral of the agricultural land currently used to feed the cheaper. Fruits and vegetables will no • Schools will expand their programs for healthy continual adjustments, paired with new loans animals to produce food for human consumption, longer be taxed. The societal costs of animal meals and fruit at schools and will purchase and a scaling-up of the business. Meanwhile, the we can provide for everyone and have land left products will be reflected in the price. organic, sustainable, plant-based foods. agricultural sector suffered the consequences over to give back to nature. In one fell swoop, • The range of available food products will Lesson programmes will focus on healthy and of drought, soil exploitation, and loss of we can also resolve environmental issues that be geared toward sustainable options. sustainable nutrition. biodiversity. Farmers have become increasingly are associated with the livestock industry Plant-based foods will become the standard • An effective and integral approach to combat

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food waste will be implemented. Over-the- more sustainably. This will break through the Healthy cultivation with healthy soil level is much higher, a transition will be made top regulations about expiry dates and the downward spiral of bulk production at the to wet forms of cultivation, or the meadows appearance of food products mean that food lowest possible cost and will create room Nature provides us with everything we need will be converted into nature areas. Such perfectly fit for human consumption is being for quality crops, farming expertise and the to produce food: healthy soil in which to grow measures are essential to counter the effects thrown away. Those regulations will be taken human factor. our crops, clean water for optimal growth, of subsidence. off the table in any case. • The Netherlands will stop the implementation and biodiversity to encourage pollination and • Sustainably cultivated plant-based protein and facilitation of the livestock industry the prevention of plague and disease. One of crops for human consumption are the future: Connecting farmers and citizens: abroad, such as was the case in Ukraine. The the costliest mistakes humans can make is to the soil will benefit, and it will offer farmers a healthy food market export of breeding animals or stable systems destroy the natural environment and the soil they sustainable prospects. The transition to these will no longer be permitted. need for food production. Intensive agricultural forms of cultivation will be fully encouraged, The transport of food all over the world is • Farmers and market gardeners will be given practices have depleted the earth to such an facilitated and supported. perhaps one of the most visible excesses the opportunity to create a strong position extent that the crops growing in this soil contain • By choosing a plant-based future, we can resulting from the politics of trade that has also for a fair cost price for their products. A far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago. use the agricultural lands that will be freed completely taken over the food industry. And fair-price-proof system will be introduced: Time for radical change: we will put a stop to up to greater effect: for more nature, for there isn’t one single reason to do so. To give wholesalers, supermarkets and other retailers this depletion. From now on, we are going to resolving the housing shortage issue, and for an example: the Netherlands exports onions to must show evidence that they have paid the provide proper protection for the resources the sustainable cultivation of oil-based crops, Brazil, while supermarkets in the Netherlands farmer a fair cost price. Contracts with a that nature has to offer. Buzzwords such as such as rapeseed, and produce for sustainable stock up on onions from New Zealand. Both delivery obligation below cost price will be ‘closed-loop agriculture’ are wholly unnecessary: applications, such as hemp and flax. The the relationship between farmers and the forbidden. The price the consumer pays in the organic farmers and market gardeners have cultivation of these crops will be encouraged. relationship between citizens and farmers shop needs to be the true cost of the product. been showing us for years how we can close the • Crops that deplete the soil, such as potatoes, is seriously out of balance. It is high time to • Initiatives for regional food production and cycle and produce healthy food in harmony with may no longer be cultivated once every two or restore that relationship because it is this very the relationship between farmers and citizens nature. The Party for the Animals says: make this three years on the same plot of land: a longer connection that will enable us to go through the will be fully encouraged. There will be ample area of farming specialisation the leading theme crop rotation period (with a maximum of once agricultural transition together. The first changes opportunity for urban agriculture, food forests for agricultural practices in the Netherlands. every six years) will be made compulsory. are already visible: around the country, initiatives and farms where citizens can partner up and • Monocultures will make room for strip- are set up between farmers and citizens for work together with the farmers! • Diverse, nature-inclusive agriculture will tilling and other forms of nature-inclusive, local food production. And the beginning of • The European Common Agricultural Policy, become the norm, including options such as regenerative agriculture. the end of free trade agreements has been put which still has production increases as its organic farming, permacultures, agroforestry, • We will cease to over-fertilise our soils. The into motion, led by the Party for the Animals. only official goal, will be overhauled. The and regenerative and agroecological systems. structural over-fertilisation in the Netherlands Thanks to our party, the free trade agreement hundreds of millions (!) of euros in agricultural Mainstream farmers and market gardeners will come to an end. We will no longer request with the Mercosur countries that would have led and fishing subsidies from future EU multi- will be supported during their transition to an exemption on the fertilisation regulations to the large-scale import of cheap agricultural annual budgets (2021-2028) will be used to sustainable forms of food production. that apply to other European farmers. Manure products, has been taken off the table. We will help farmers and fishing businesses make the • We will make more critical choices about the injection will be forbidden, as will the use continue to expand this growing resistance transition to environmentally friendly, plant- use of agricultural lands. We will say goodbye of artificial fertilisers. The current fertilisers movement so that we can continue to protect based food production. After this period, the to forms of cultivation that do not promote and manures will be replaced by plant-based farmers who work sustainably. subsidies will be abolished. sustainable means but instead damage the fertilisers and green manure. • Plant and animal species are not the property environment through things like the excessive • The soil will be given room to breathe. • For all food products for which it is possible, of businesses. Patents on all forms of life will use of pesticides and depletion of the soil. With minimal or non-inversion tillage, we we are going to organise production at a be forbidden. We will resist attempts from We will immediately stop the cultivation of will prevent compaction of the earth and regional level. corporations such as Bayer-Monsanto and lilies and will scale down the mainstream bulb stimulate soil life and the healthy growth of • Farmers will be protected from unfair BASF to patent plant and animal genes to growing industry as a whole. The soil will be roots. This will increase water retention and competition from outside. We will block all monopolise the food market. given a chance to recover, and cultivators will the breakdown and storage of CO2 in the European free trade agreements that lead • The Netherlands will commit itself to be assisted in their transition to sustainable soil. Intensive tillage such as ploughing will to the import of cheap products that are promoting international plant breeders’ and cultivation forms. no longer be permitted. Heavy agricultural produced below our standards. farmers’ rights. • Soil use will be based on the type of soil and machinery will make way for smaller, lighter • We will implement tariffs at European borders the natural groundwater level instead of the machines that are powered by electricity. for food that we can produce ourselves other way around. For example, in peatland • The soil will receive more water. Water will meadows where the natural groundwater no longer be removed as quickly as possible,

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but stored for drier periods. The groundwater • The Netherlands will become a GMO- second livestock industry. They don’t solve the overexploitation of biomass fuels and cheap level will no longer be artificially suppressed; free country. The cultivation and import of overfishing problem: a lot of farmed fish is fed resources for our livestock feed and food a natural level will be maintained instead. genetically modified crops will be prohibited. with fish meal made from fish caught in the wild. industry, we are often guilty of land grabbing and • The agricultural sector will become pesticide- As long as a European import and cultivation Fish farms are therefore not sustainable and far the violation of human rights. We deplete soils free. The use of agricultural pesticides will be ban continues to exist, we want to give from animal friendly. We can easily fish out an and destroy the ecosystems and climate systems scaled down rapidly through regulation. member states and regions the opportunity to alternative: plant-based food from the sea makes that people in vulnerable areas are dependent • The local production of compost will be prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified us healthier, prevents significant animal suffering upon to develop their sustainable future. The encouraged, including the fermentation of crops. and gives the underwater environment a chance Party for the Animals wants an agricultural residues from the mowing of verges. Organic • The genetic modification and cloning of to recover. policy that doesn’t hurt others but promotes compost use will restore the level of organic animals is ethically unacceptable and comes opportunity for people in vulnerable areas. materials in the soil. paired with grievous animal suffering. The • We are committed to change: we don’t need • Agroforestry, combining agriculture and Netherlands will be committed to generating to eat fish to remain healthy. We can also • Large international supply chains facilitate forestry on the same plot of land, will be an import ban on cloned and genetically ingest healthy fatty acids from algal oils and the destruction of ecosystems, create strongly encouraged. modified animals, their offspring and the seaweed. An effective campaign will be set up fragile monocultures, and are seriously • Traditional organic crop improvement products produced by these animals. The to make people aware of these new insights. detrimental to the position of women and methods will be encouraged for the Netherlands will be actively involved in The plant-based option will be made cheaper girls in the countries where production takes development of healthy and resistant crop creating a global tracking system to monitor by eliminating the tax on these products. place. Sustainable, small-scale agricultural species. the trade in cloned animals. • The fishing industry and fish farms will be economies, on the other hand, strengthen scaled down. Subsidies on fishing practices the position of women. We will break down will be dispensed with immediately. the massive supply chains and help people in GMO-free The high cost of fishing • Ecosystems and endangered fish species will developing countries to develop a sustainable, be given a chance to recover through the regional agricultural economy. Healthy agriculture is GMO-free. The genetic There are also many misconceptions about food implementation of a complete ban on fishing • Fishing agreements between the European manipulation of plants is a result of our industrial from the sea. The fatty acids found in fish are in that area. For vulnerable species such as Union and other countries only serve to approach to our food supply system. Genetic healthy, but that doesn’t mean that we have to eel, cod and tuna, an immediate fishing ban exploit and will be taken off the table or modification has no bearing on the knowledge eat fish because of it. Fish don’t produce these will be implemented. annulled. that we can feed everyone on this planet – now fatty acids themselves. They ingest the fatty • Boats using destructive fishing methods will • The Netherlands will stop promoting and in the future – if we don’t waste precious acids by eating algae – something we can also no longer be allowed to sail. Monster trawlers the export of systems and products for proteins on the livestock industry but make them do ourselves. Moreover, by choosing plant-based and deep-sea fishing, ships with trawl nets industrial agricultural practices such as immediately available for human consumption foods straight from the sea (algal oils, seaweed), that destroy the seafloor (beam trawlers) or slaughterhouses, mega stables, artificial instead. The Party for the Animals believes in the we avoid further detrimental health effects caused electrocute animals (pulse fishing) will not be fertilisers, pesticides and genetically modified precautionary principle and is strongly opposed by the heavy metals and plastic residues that end allowed to sail under the Dutch flag. crops. Instead, investments will be made in to the genetic modification of crops. Once a up in fish and on our plates. The health of human regional, agroecological food supply chains genetically modified crop turns out to cause more beings, the well-being of fish and the biodiversity and regional infrastructure. harm than was initially believed and has already in our seas and oceans require a radical change in Sustainable regional agriculture for a just • We will stop the dumping of cheap, dispersed itself among other organisms in the course: we need to catch and eat less fish. world subsidised agricultural products on the ecosystem, there is no going back. The promised markets of countries in the global south. All sustainability of these crops has not been realised: Besides, most fish species are suffering from A regionalised food system is the ideal budgets for the promotion of export will be genetically modified soybeans and maize have heavy overfishing. So much fish is caught that approach, no matter where in the world it’s withdrawn, and European agricultural and only increased the use of environmentally harmful some fish species are on the verge of extinction. implemented: not only in the developed West fishing subsidies will be abolished. pesticides rather than decreased them. Moreover, The Dutch fishing industry is partially responsible but also particularly in more vulnerable regions. • Large international businesses often make use genetic modification is a threat to mainstream for the structural overfishing of European waters The current agricultural and food politics in of corrupt government officials in developing and organic farming practices because these and the destruction of life on the seafloor. With the Netherlands and Europe is not only highly countries to rent or buy agricultural lands. genetically modified crops can cross-pollinate European subsidies, seas outside of Europe are detrimental to the climate and biodiversity on However, these lands usually belong to with non-modified crops. We are committed to being plundered as well, such as those off the our continent, but also a threat to the basic local farming families. The Party for the making the Netherlands and Europe free from coast of Africa. The largest trawlers in the world conditions for people who live in far more Animals wants the Netherlands to lead a genetic modification. are in Dutch hands. Fish farms are becoming a trying circumstances than we do. With our strong international front against these land-

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grabbing practices. Investments in lands diseases and zoonoses. The import of live modified ingredients are incorporated into should meet UN human rights criteria on the animals, such as the import of calves that a product, this will be clearly marked on the Right to Food. are fattened up in Dutch stables, will be front of the product or packaging. • We will cease to import products produced forbidden. • Lease contracts will include strict conditions at the expense of the living environment • Strict rules will be implemented for the use of on sustainable soil management. elsewhere or those that are associated with antibiotics in the livestock industry. The pre- • Permanent pastures will no longer be ‘broken the violation of human rights and the well- emptive administration of antibiotics will be up’ (torn up and sown in again). being of animals. stopped for once and for all. Extra monitoring • We will bring meadows and pastures back to will take place in sectors where antibiotics are life by sowing a varied mixture of indigenous frequently used. herbs and grasses. Intermediate steps in the transition: putting • The substantially reduced livestock industry the health of humans and animals first will be fully localised. We will stop the import of resources for animal feed such as soybeans Intermediate steps for fishing The transition to a sustainable food system and palm oil. The export of fertiliser will no will not happen overnight. Besides the radical longer be permitted, and fertiliser fraud will • The precautionary principle will be the changes required to alter our course, transitions be dealt with harshly. cornerstone of our fishing policy. This often come paired with an intermediary phase • Fertiliser plants will cease to exist in the principle ensures that we will not fish more requiring intermediate steps. As long as animals Netherlands. The billions of euros of subsidies than independent biologists consider justified. are not fully liberated from the food supply reserved for manure fermenters can be put If not enough scientific data is available, chain, the livestock industry will continue to to far better use in the development of truly fishing will be prohibited, or large safety pose a risk to human health, and zoonotic sustainable energy sources. No more permits margins will be incorporated into the fishing diseases will continue to be a threat. As long as will be issued for the manufacture of new quota and tend to be on the low side. pesticide use in the agricultural sector has not manure fermenters, and existing fermenters • The Netherlands will scale down the been banned, the health of people living near will be dismantled. overcapacity of the fishing fleet at a rapid these treated farmlands will be at risk. As long • The health of residents living near farms rate. The fishing capacity of the European as fishing continues to take place, measures and market garden industries will be given fishing fleet may not exceed the capacity of will be required to limit the damage to marine priority over the interests of the growers. the ecosystems in European waters. ecosystems. In short, we are heading towards Pesticides may no longer be sprayed in areas • Strict enforcement of existing regulations a truly sustainable plant-based future, and we in the vicinity of residential areas, schools and will be maintained to combat harmful fishing will implement intermediate stages to preserve other areas where people live and work, and practices. The ban on dumping caught fish at the health of humans, animals and the natural children play. These spray-free zones will also sea will be monitored closely through camera environment as much as possible during this be implemented near public roads, walking surveillance and on-board monitoring. Fishing transition. paths and cycling paths and around places vessels from fishing companies that do not where animals reside such as meadows. comply will be forced to remain in port. Intermediate steps for agriculture • There will be a ban on the selling of meat and • Bycatch will be significantly reduced by dairy products at exceptionally low prices. placing a ban on non-selective fishing • The fewer animals are cooped up together, Cut-price meat and dairy products will be methods. the lower the risk of the outbreak of disease eliminated from supermarket shelves. and the transfer of diseases from animals to • The production of excess meat, eggs and humans (zoonoses). A maximum number of dairy products is unacceptable. Therefore, we animals will be set on a company and regional are vehemently opposed to European buy- basis. back schemes and subsidies for the storage of • The age of mega stables is over. No new surplus products. permits will be issued for the construction of • Mandatory labelling will be implemented for mega stables or for the expansion of existing meat, dairy and egg products produced by livestock businesses. animals that have been fed with feed from • The fewer animals are moved, the lower genetically modified crops. If genetically the risk of contracting or spreading animal

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Economic growth is the problem, not the solution The only sustainable economy is a socially just economy that functions within the limits of the Earth’s resources. The current economic system is unfair, unstable, unsustainable, and it’s making people unhappy. In theory, it promises more prosperity, but in practice, it comes at the expense of our well-being -- and the well-being of people elsewhere and future generations. Our addiction to economic growth is a significant problem on a planet that cannot grow along with us. Growth shouldn’t be our goal; the well-being of humans, animals and our planet should. This is possible if we choose an economic welfare system that serves an equal society where we live in harmony with each other and with nature. The prosperity of one will then no longer be at the expense of the well-being of another. Vulnerable values will be protected, and the interests of large, polluting corporations will be subordinate to those values.

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Many people have trouble scraping by as the think we might need also has significant the position of employees in the workforce dollars in additional damages caused by climate wealth of others continues to grow steadily. In drawbacks. Society has lost its equilibrium will be reinforced. A lowering of employer change. the Netherlands, more than a million people because of it. We have more material goods costs in smaller companies will make it more live below the poverty line. At the same time, than ever, but we throw them away just as attractive to hire people. • A hefty CO2 tax will be implemented. one-quarter of the country’s wealth lies in the quickly. Regularly buying new clothes or a • Production will primarily focus on a regional • A progressive aviation tax will be introduced. hands of one per cent of the Dutch population. new telephone has become perfectly normal. market. The VAT on valuable products The more often you fly, the more tax you pay It is up to the government to guarantee a social Moreover, this drive to just keep producing has and services will be abolished. Local per ticket. Kerosine will be taxed. minimum for all its constituents while ensuring contributed to the fact that we have crossed the entrepreneurship will be encouraged. A tax • A separate tax will be added to animal that we do not exceed the carrying capacity of line of what our planet can manage. will be imposed on large internet-based shops proteins. our planet. to combat unfair competition. • The tariff for the highest income bracket for The coronavirus crisis is a turning point. The • Our pension funds will no longer be used the profit tax will be raised from 25 to 35 per The ecological and social crises are closely pandemic has shown that governments, when to invest in the fossil fuel and bio-industry cent, the level it was at the beginning of this interlinked. The prioritising of short-term it comes down to it, can radically influence the sectors. Banks will be split up into public and century. interests and the quasi-religious faith in economy. Moreover, the crisis has made many commercial banks. • The subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, a economic growth has come at the expense of people realise that immaterial values such as • A basic income, given the right framework, sum of at least 4.5 billion euros per year, will our planet and the people standing on the side friendship, love, caring for loved ones, health, can offer income security and strengthen the be abolished. lines of our workforce. The constant race to the and spending time with each other are much position of employees vis-à-vis employers. A • As long as non-recycled plastic continues to bottom has led to the exploitation and depletion more valuable than having more material goods. large-scale pilot for a basic income will be set be used, it will be taxed. of humans, animals and the planet. This race The Party for the Animals envisions a society up. • The degressive energy tax system favours bulk is not sustainable for anyone. The last thing that will slow down and cut back, one in which • The gross domestic product (GDP) is not a consumers and will, therefore, be abolished. we should be doing is getting back to business the value of the work that people do is reflected suitable indicator for our prosperity and well- Instead, we will implement a progressive as usual. To avoid this, a radical change in the in their livelihood. being and should not be a goal in itself. We energy tax system. A progressive energy tax tax and incentive structures in our economy is are going to measure wealth and well-being system means that the more you use, the imperative. To that effect, the tax and incentive framework differently. higher the average tax rate. needs a radical overhaul, and the minimum • Access to cash will be safeguarded. We will • Any agricultural pesticides that have not yet wage must be increased by 40 per cent. The ensure that the rate at which cash is taken been banned will be heavily taxed. An ecocentric economy Party for the Animals wants to tax resources out of circulation will be reduced and that the • A ‘data tax’ will be implemented for that are scarce or environmentally harmful percentage of cash in circulation will be kept businesses, international businesses and We live in a time in which we require and spare those resources that are valuable. to a certain minimum. internet platforms. The tax rate will be linked increasingly fewer human resources to That means we need to impose heavy taxes to the amount of data that is used by the produce and organise everything we need. This on polluting activities and the use of finite organisation concerned. effectively provides an immense opportunity to resources and introduce a significant decrease Radical fiscal ‘greening’ spend more time on other things, such as caring in taxes on labour. These measures will allow us for each other and the natural environment, to reduce environmental pressures and create Financial costs and benefits must be divided Work is valuable; work should be personal development, innovation, sports, art, ample sustainable job opportunities through equally. Major polluters that play a significant compensated et cetera. But we have set up our economy in green employment. role in the climate crisis and that have profited a way that is a barrier to these opportunities: the most from economic growth must also bear Everyone in the Netherlands should have an people are forced to work harder and work • Pollution and scarce resources will be the costs of the climate transition. income that is high enough to allow them to get longer hours instead of less. Production taxed much more heavily. This tax includes by. But, for many people, their financial reserves and consumption must continue to grow, measures such as a hefty tax on CO2, a The dozens of millions of euros in coronavirus have dried up before the end of the month. Rent, irrespective of whether people want it or not. progressive aviation tax and a tax on animal subsidies are a chance to implement changes gas, water, electricity, healthcare, childcare, Work remains an expensive good because of proteins. The subsidies for the fossil fuel in favour of the climate and biodiversity. It is subscriptions, taxes and transportation fees high tax rates. On the other hand, resources industry will be terminated. inconceivable that this enormous sum should make life expensive. Unexpected expenses, are dirt-cheap, even though they’re scarce, • Labour, on the other hand, will be taxed be used to go back to business as usual. Heavy such as repairs, then become too much. The damaging to the environment, and finite. much more lightly. The tax rate for the lowest investments in the climate transition will allowances issued by the Inland Revenue income tax bracket will be lowered. The ultimately provide more benefits than costs. If department are sometimes a source of stress Merely continuing to produce whatever we minimum wage will see a notable increase and the temperature should rise by two degrees, the because they might need to be repaid sometime global cost incurred will be over 25,000 billion in the future.

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In recent years, inequality in Dutch society has • Studies will be conducted into how the only labour contracts that will remain are are considered a benefit to society. This social only increased. Valuable work is often underpaid, advantages of home ownership can also be the permanent and temporary contracts capital can then be used to pay for basic and work that has no immediately apparent made accessible to people who rent homes, for standard employment, the temporary needs such as food and living space. added value is usually well compensated. The so tenants are not faced with rising costs contract for replacement during sick leave • In large companies, employees will be Party for the Animals wants to improve social every year while home-owners have constant or additional support during busy periods, given a more significant role in the making security. Professions that are now underpaid will and even decreasing costs. and the self-employment contract for self- of important decisions, such as mergers, be re-evaluated, not only in financial terms but employed individuals. Temporary workers will acquisition of their own shares, take-overs, also in terms of how we view this type of work as be entitled to the same terms of employment restructuring activities and profit distribution. a society at large. An equitable labour market and an end to as other workers. Pseudo-self-employment The position of employees in the works job exploitation will be combated, and employees will not be council will be reinforced • The rate for the lowest income tax bracket will forced to become self-employed. • It will be easier for self-employed workers to be lowered. The highest rate will be raised to The Party for the Animals wants a society in • The coronavirus crisis has shown the save for their pensions or have themselves 60%. People with a high income benefit more which as many people as possible can decide extensive problems in the labour conditions insured voluntarily. Self-employed workers from basic facilities (such as proper education for themselves how they want to live their lives in slaughterhouses. The slaughterhouses will will be given access to a collective disability and infrastructure). So, it is no more than and earn their income. We want to eliminate be given priority by the labour inspection and pension insurance. reasonable to ask them to contribute in kind. the extreme pressure to perform, a source of services. • The retrenchment of the safety net for young • The minimum wage will be increased to continual stress and agitation. For us, equal work • Strict conditions will be placed on the people with a disability (Wajong) will be 14 euros per hour. Contributions from the also means equal compensation. Sex, gender, and accommodation of migrant workers. Migrant reversed. They will be given opportunities for Old Age Pensions Act (AOW) and Disabled ethnicity should not lead to differences in income. workers will at least be entitled to sleeping meaningful and useful day-to-day activities Assistance (Young Persons) Act (Wajong) will accommodation that they will not have to with the opportunity to grow into a suitable increase accordingly. The Party for the Animals wants to put an end share. This will enable them to keep to the paid job. • Rents will not be increased over the coming to job exploitation and over-the-top flexible basic coronavirus regulations. Employers are • As long as there is no alternative for years. contracts. A shortening of the workweek and responsible if the migrant workers are not allowances, the child allowance will be made • Salaries in the public sector will be raised a more equitable distribution of available facilitated in this. Commercial businesses dependent on the income of the parents. significantly. work will ensure that we will have more time cannot simultaneously be the employers and • Childcare will be free for four days in the week. • In a society where everyone can get by, for each other. The position of power held by landlords of migrant workers. • A new type of sheltered employment will be allowances from the government are employers is far too great in some sectors. • The labour inspection body will be given implemented. This will allow everyone with a no longer needed. An alternative to the One of those sectors is the meat sector. The a broader mandate to carry out individual labour disability to carry out meaningful work allowances system will be necessary for coronavirus exposed these inequalities on the research and monitor compliance with close to home, with proper counselling and a the long term, based on the principle that work floor; slaughterhouses turned out to be an collective agreement wages, discrimination decent wage. everyone should have enough income to enjoy exceptionally dangerous source of outbreaks and social security regulations. The labour • A national fund for flex workers in platform a decent quality of life. of the virus. Slaughterhouses are some of the inspection services will specifically involve the businesses will be provided. The premiums • Mortgage interest relief will remain available largest exploiters of vulnerable migrant workers employees themselves in this regard. for disability insurance and retirement funds up to an amount of 350,000 euros. The in the Netherlands, but the position of the • The parental leave arrangement for parents will be paid from this fund. The funds will be mortgage interest relief for higher values individual employee must be reinforced in other will be expanded: the existing nine-week, mostly provided by the platform businesses will be incrementally scaled down. At the sectors as well. partly compensated leave arrangement will with supplemental funds from the central same time, investments will be made to make be converted into three months with full pay. government. National and international housing affordable again. • An extensive vocational retraining programme Parental leave for both parents will be made platform businesses that do not accept these • The wealth tax will be increased from 1.5% to will be set up for professions that will be possible. conditions will be denied access to the Dutch 3% for the highest current wealth tax bracket. largely redundant in the future, for example, • Job seekers will be facilitated in carrying out market. Relevant laws and regulations will be This increase means that more tax will be paid in the aviation industry, the fossil fuel industry volunteer work and traineeships, even when drawn up or adjusted accordingly. on fortunes valued at more than one million and the meat sector. that work is not directly aimed at a return to euros. The wealth tax will progressively • Employment agencies will require a permit to the workforce. These activities will, from now increase above this amount. put a halt to the proliferation of employment on, count as useful preparations for a return Regionalising the economy - spare what’s • People in the same household are entitled to agencies. to the labour market. valuable social security payments. This means that the • The proliferation of different types of • Research will be conducted into how people co-resident rule will be revoked. labour contracts will come to an end. The can build up ‘social capital’ through acts that Valuable products and services should be made

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affordable and should not be taxed further. attractive for these businesses to hire more will receive their state pension from that create fast, short term gains will be taxed more Healthy products, public transport, cultural staff. point onwards. The option to choose a lower heavily. activities and repairs would therefore be exempt • The government sets an example. The retirement age will be made available with the from VAT. On the other hand, online purchases procurement of all products and contracts will state pension adjusted accordingly. • Banks will be split up into public service will be more heavily taxed. This is fairer with be 100% sustainable. This measure will also • The state pension will increase, a positive banks for the management of payment traffic, regards to small and medium enterprises and apply to executive bodies, utility companies, development for retired people with a low savings and the provision of local loans, and puts a halt to the ‘boxification’ of the Dutch ports, airports, independent governance or no additional retirement funds, without commercial banks. Should a crisis arise, the landscape and the globalisation of production organisations and water boards. this being at the expense of the younger public functions of a bank can then be more and consumption. population. easily supported without requiring taxpayer • Employees will be given more freedom and money to bolster commercial banks. The coronavirus crisis has shown that our A comfortable retirement flexibility in choosing how their pension • The government and executive bodies will use economy has become too dependent on large fund is set up. For example, they will have the banking services of a sustainable bank. and complex supply chains. The Party for the A comfortable retirement is a valuable right, the option to place their pension fund with • The capital buffers of Dutch banks will be far Animals wants to turn regionalisation into a but as a result of the Pension Accord that was a green investment fund if that is not an greater than they are now. Banks will thus starting principle. The radical greening and agreed upon in 2019, pensions are increasingly available option with their current pension become more resistant to sudden changes regionalisation of the tax system shall make room dependent on the stock market. Stock-market fund. They will also be able to choose a and crises. for economic activity that will serve humans and prices fluctuate and are, furthermore, based flexible retirement age or a part-time pension. • Bonuses no longer have a place in the the planet alike. In other words, smaller, more on the out-of-date and bad idea of endless • The pension funds will be democratised so financial sector. They don’t fit into its societal innovative businesses that provide meaningful economic growth. employees will have a greater voice in the function. Financial institutions will be work, for example, in the energy transition, remuneration and provision policies and have monitored to prevent bonuses from being repair and healthcare sectors, small-scale The Party for the Animals does not want to a say in what pension funds do with their issued in roundabout ways. nature-inclusive agriculture sector and regional gamble with these pensions. The older people of money. • Concrete plans will be made for a new market-oriented production. Local companies the future – in other words, today’s youth, should • The job application requirement for people democratic and transparent system for the bring life to town centres and neighbourhoods also be able to maintain a retirement fund. over the age of 60 will be abolished; this will creation of money. After all, banks have a and contribute to a pleasant living environment. Furthermore, the Party for the Animals wants to leave time for volunteer work, childcare and monopoly on the creation of money and profit These businesses, however, are increasingly improve the financial security of all people of caring for others instead. significantly from it. In drafting these plans, faced with unfair competition from internet pensionable age but not at the expense of young due attention will be given to the report businesses. A separate tax for internet businesses people. Therefore, the pension contribution titled Money and Debt from the Netherlands will be implemented to mitigate this effect. should increase. Curbing the banks Scientific Council for Economic Policy. • Given its platform function, the EU will • The VAT on fruits and vegetables, public The Pension Accord does not put a halt to the Banks facilitate payment traffic, manage people’s promote a coordinated implementation of a transport and all cultural activities will be fossil fuel and livestock industry. The Party for savings, and provide loans to businesses. These tax system for banks and taxes for financial abolished. the Animals wants to use the pension funds are public services that are important for every transactions in member states. • VAT will no longer apply for the repair of to invest in a liveable planet and a sustainable aspect of society. These public services should • The Netherlands will stop facilitating bikes, appliances, clothes and other items. future for our young people. The 1500 billion be separated from the riskier functions of banks. large-scale tax evasion by multinational • A separate tax will be levied on large euros worth of investment allowance from the Banks must be encouraged to invest in what’s corporations. They will make any special companies (with an annual turnover of more pension funds offers ample opportunity to do so. valuable and not use their money to invest in agreements, or tax rulings, with corporations than 12 million euros) that generate most of damaging or disruptive activities. available to the public. On a European level, their turnover from online sales to level the • Pension funds will withdraw from the the Netherlands will urge other member playing field between small businesses and livestock industry and the fossil fuel industry The Party for the Animals wants banks with states to do the same. large internet companies even further. Food altogether as quickly as possible. With that public services to remain solvent in times of • Studies will be conducted into how a tax on products will be exempt from this rule as aim in mind, they will formulate a divestment crisis, but banks that do not perform a public financial transactions can contribute to more healthy food is one of the necessities of life. plan to fully withdraw from all investments in service will not be bailed out by the government sustainable investments and how so-called Second-hand materials will also be exempt. these sectors by 2030. if they are not able to solve the problems they patient capital (money that is invested in • A fiscal incentive will be given to small • Anyone who has worked 40 years will receive themselves created. Money invested in long- sectors that do not instantly produce a profit) businesses to reduce the employer costs state pension (AOW) upon turning 65. Anyone term investments for a better world will be more can be made more fiscally attractive. for those businesses. This will make it more receiving social benefits at the age of 65 lightly taxed. On the other hand, money used to

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A basic income for everyone • For the determination and regulation of policy, the government will use the already The coronavirus crisis has shown that large developed Comprehensive Well-being groups of people can quickly lose their source Monitor (Monitor Brede Welvaart). This will of income, this knowledge has brought with it allow the implementation of other instruments a great deal of uncertainty. Meanwhile, many that give a measure of the well-being of people find themselves in a weak position humans and animals, such as a clean living when negotiating with employers. The Party environment, biodiversity, innovative strength, for the Animals wants to get rid of the ‘easily community spirit, availability of healthcare, replaceable’ mentality that some employers have et cetera. The positive and negative effects of by structurally strengthening the position of the government measures and economic activities employee with regards to the employer. on society will be mapped out and allow us to determine the right course towards a The Party for the Animals wants to increase the sustainable and unified economy security, autonomy and negotiating position of • In addition to the Comprehensive Well- employees by investigating the implementation being Monitor, a future-generation test will of an unconditional basic income. This can be be implemented. It will help us gain insight implemented in several ways. A negative income into how current, far-reaching decisions will tax can, for example, act as a basic form of impact future generations. We will also map income. A necessary condition should be that out how our well-being comes at the expense everyone has sufficient income security. of prosperity elsewhere. Furthermore, we believe that the Netherlands should become • Studies will be carried out to assess which a member of the Wellbeing Economy form of basic income provides sufficient in- Governments (WeGo), currently led by New come security for everyone and which format Zealand, Scotland, Wales and Iceland. improves the position of employees with regards to employers. Forms of basic income include a monthly disbursement for everyone or a negative income tax where only people with a low income receive a basic income. • A large pilot for testing the basic income model in practice will be fast-tracked.

A different measure of prosperity

The government is currently too focused on increasing incomes in the Netherlands: gross domestic product (GDP). But a growing GDP does not by definition mean that our society benefits from it, or that citizens are happier. Volunteer work and caring for others are not factored into the GDP calculation as a positive measure of our prosperity. Activities that disrupt the environment, public health or animal welfare, such as the livestock industry, coal plants and gas extraction, oddly enough, are factored in.

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Protect everything of value, share scarce resources equally Clean air, clean water and healthy soils are essential. The very survival of many lifeforms is at stake due to an environmental policy that, for many years, prioritised short-term financial interests over the protection of our living environment. The result is high emissions of hazardous materials, more noise, harmful substances and garbage in the environment, in addition to the depletion of natural resources. It is high time to turn the tide towards a political system that focuses on a healthy and safe living environment for humans and animals alike. We need to develop a system that uses the capacity of the Earth’s resources as a starting point instead of endless economic growth on a planet that cannot grow along with it.

This is why the Party for the Animals is a driving force for a radically different environmental policy.

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If everyone on this planet consumed as much as Animals is therefore committed to creating a wrappings, making it easier to separate waste • The central government will control the average Dutch citizen, we would need three circular economy, where we use our resources products effectively. Manufacturers will be the supervision and enforcement of planets to sustain the Earth’s population. Our as sparingly as possible and reuse and recycle obligated to reduce packaging made from environmental laws. More capacity and growth-oriented economy promotes the ever- them from existing products. Single-use plastics mixed materials. expertise will be made available to the increasing consumption of products, leading to will be banned and we will end hazardous • The industry and the construction sector supervisors. The fines will be increased a shortage of resources and an abundance of waste disposal in our rivers. We will prevent the will be obligated to use material passports. significantly and in proportion to the turnover waste. The plastic soup continues to accumulate introduction of microplastics in the environment This passport will facilitate the recycling of the fined businesses. in our seas and oceans, where it harms marine and the food chain. Such measures will allow us of materials at the end of the life cycle of • The disposal of industrial waste materials, life and enters the food supply chain. We to work quickly towards a world without waste. buildings and products. such as granulite, into the water supply, will are surrounded by health risks, even in our • The national budget will include a resource be prohibited. immediate environment. For instance, every year, • In 2030, the use of resources will be halved, ceiling in addition to existing expenditure • Air traffic is not only one of the largest 12,000 people in the Netherlands die an early and all our resources will be recycled. A ceilings. The government may only carry out contributors to climate change; it is also death due to unhealthy air caused primarily by Resources Act will be implemented with policy and plans if it fits within the resource responsible for significant levels of air and traffic emissions. Industries are legally protected binding obligations. ceiling. noise pollution. Air traffic adversely affects in such a way that they can release harmful • Through a price differentiation between • Balloons often land in water and in nature the health of the people living in the vicinity substances into the air, soil and water with different resources, recycled resources will preserves where they can be fatal to animals. of airports. Moreover, large numbers of flights impunity, leading to dangerous conditions for our be cheaper than resources which have been Therefore, the release of gas-filled balloons over densely populated areas pose health health, our environment, and our human rights. exploited for the first time. will be prohibited. Biodegradable balloons risks for the people living in these areas. The • There will be a ban on single-use plastic. The are not a solution: they will only break down aviation sector will, therefore, be sized down The coronavirus crisis has shown us that ban on plastic straws will take into account under the right natural conditions and often drastically. choosing a cleaner living environment is a people who are dependent on straws for take years to do so. The sale and launch of sky • No new manure fermenters will be political choice. We have discovered that we can medical reasons. A proper alternative will be lanterns will also be prohibited. constructed, and existing manure fermenters create cleaner air and a quieter neighbourhood found for these people. We will drastically • The ‘ja-ja sticker’ (mailbox sticker allowing the will be disassembled to reduce the stench and if we no longer prefer aviation traffic over reduce the use of packaging materials. Any delivery of door-drop marketing materials) will health risks for residents in the surrounding sustainable transport methods. We see more plastic used will have to be recycled. An be implemented nationally. The rule will be: area. animals when it’s quieter. It’s much more immediate ban will be placed on the use of you will not receive any unsolicited marketing • The chemical industry can create a significant pleasant on the roads with less traffic. We feel microplastics in cosmetic products. We will mailings unless you specifically request it by risk for humans, animals, nature and the better when we have more greenery in our draw up regulations for clothing and washing placing a sticker on your mailbox. environment. The storage, processing and environment. We cannot return to the old way machine manufacturers to prevent synthetic • A ban will be placed on the sale of plastic emission of substances by the chemical of life where pollution continues to destroy our fibres from entering our waters. cigarette filters. industry will be monitored more extensively. planet. We will change course and work towards • There will be stricter conditions for the design Moreover, inspections will take place without a living environment that will no longer make us of new products so that they will last longer, warning from now on, and the businesses ill but will make us healthier instead. The Party repair easily, and contain materials that can Curbing hazardous industrial practices will pay for the costs incurred during these for the Animals is not afraid to make those radical easily be re-used. inspections. Violations will be dealt with choices, because that’s how we create a healthy, • The deposit programme will remain and be Nobody should have to worry about the strictly and harshly. fair and safe society. We want to create a society expanded to include small bottles and plastic potential health risks posed by businesses • The government will follow up on its that is no longer in conflict with nature but lives bottles, cans and single-use cups. in the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, in the agreement to end the exploitation of natural in harmony with our natural environment. • Transparent resource flows are essential densely populated and economically bustling gas in Groningen by 2022. Inspections and in our efforts to create a circular economy. Netherlands, we are often faced with dangers the reinforcement of homes with earthquake Therefore, the Netherlands will argue within coming from numerous sources: the chemical damage will be given priority, and any A world without waste Europe for an expansion of legislation industries, gas exploitation, pesticides and damage will be dealt with in a timely fashion, for the labelling of consumer goods and particulate matter and diseases from the ending several years of uncertainty for many The Party for the Animals draws its inspiration food products. In addition to the currently livestock industry. The Party for the Animals Groningen residents. from nature, where processes develop without mandatory requirements, the resources used wants everyone to live in a safe environment. The • The damage caused by mining activities in the waste. Our throw-away society leads to the will also be specified on the packaging. This well-being of citizens is more important than the coal and brown coal mines in will be depletion of natural resources and the pollution is to heighten awareness of the invisible financial interests of businesses. compensated by the central government. of our seas and oceans. The Party for the materials such as the plastic coating on paper • The release of hazardous substances by ships

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will be prohibited. The degassing of vessels, distribution of our prosperity, a cleaner living • Renovations aimed at increasing energy- • A data centre uses the same amount of energy the dumping of hydrocarbon residues by environment, and a society that is no longer in efficiency, such as the installation of a heat as hundreds of thousands of households. As a boats, and the use of open-loop scrubbers will conflict with nature but lives in harmony with the pump or applying insulation to a building will result, green energy can no longer be used to be ended as soon as possible. environment. Vested interests from industries be encouraged by taxing these activities at a supply homes with clean energy and to make • When wood is burned, different hazardous, such as the fossil fuel industry are a barrier to low VAT rate. other industries more sustainable. Therefore, often carcinogenic substances that are this transition. The quicker we can break through • Property taxes (ozb) will be differentiated the construction of data centres will be damaging to the environment, the public this barrier and commit ourselves to reducing according to energy consumption. restricted. health and the climate, are released. The high our energy consumption and making our energy • The energy conservation duty, the duty for • The Netherlands will adopt strict standards emissions of fine particles can lead to serious supply sustainable, the less damage and fewer businesses and institutions to implement for the energy consumption of appliances health issues in children, the elderly and costs will be incurred over the long term. If we energy conservation measures with a payback and vehicles. It will commit itself to the people with lung disease. Therefore, we will don’t develop a sustainable society, the price in period of five years or less, will be more implementation of a European energy label phase out the burning of wood fuels. During the long term will be significantly higher. strictly enforced. that not only takes into consideration the unfavourable weather conditions, such as mist • Unnecessary energy waste will be addressed. energy consumption but the entire life cycle or lack of wind, the burning of wood fuels will Superfluous lighting, such as in offices, shop of the product, from production to recycling. not be permitted. Stepping up energy conservation windows of shops that are closed, or light- • Green roofs and facades will provide cooling emitting advertising, will be restricted. Ice in the summer, which will reduce the use of We don’t have to produce energy that we don’t skating rinks will close in the summer. A ban air conditioning in our houses and offices. A pleasant and safe New Year’s Eve use. Conserving energy will make the total sum on patio heaters will be implemented, starting The greenery acts as an insulation layer in required for our transition to 100% sustainable in the spring of 2021. the winter, leading to a reduction in heat loss Every New Year’s Eve, hundreds of people are energy much smaller. Energy conservation will • A reduction of 75% in the number of animals of up to 20%. Green roofs will be placed on injured, usually as a result of legal fireworks. also prevent the use of unnecessary amounts of in the livestock industry and a scaling down of the list of compulsory energy-conservation About half of the victims are bystanders who space by power plants. Moreover, it will make the fishing industry will also lead to a notable measures for owners of large buildings. happen to be walking past. Fireworks contain us less dependent on oil and gas-producing reduction in energy consumption. More • Air conditioners lead to an extreme increase in heavy metals and other hazardous substances countries. The Party for the Animals wants to efficient, plant-based and environmentally electricity consumption. With climate change, that pollute the soil, the air and our water significantly reduce energy consumption in the friendly forms of food production will be more and more people are purchasing air supplies. After the New Year, about three Netherlands: in urban areas, industry, transport actively encouraged by the government. conditioners, which puts a lot of pressure million kilos of extra waste has to be cleaned and the agricultural sector. In line with the • The production of artificial fertilisers is highly on the electricity grid. In warm conditions, a up. Moreover, fireworks provoke fear and stress Paris Climate Accord, we will realise an energy energy-intensive. Therefore, we will end the large tree has the same cooling power as ten in animals. Traditions should be cherished, but conservation level of at least 50% relative to 2015. production of synthetic fertilisers. Instead, energy-guzzling air conditioners. That’s why they go too far when humans or animals suffer we will commit ourselves to developing we will plant a large number of trees in and as a result. The Party for the Animals wants New • By 2030 at the latest, households and offices closed-loop local production cycles, around urban areas. Year’s Eve to become a celebration for everyone. in the Netherlands will have reduced energy extract phosphate from sewage sludge, and • The Netherlands will increasingly focus on a consumption by at least 65%. Homes will be implement plant-based fertilisers and green repair economy; repairing more products or • There will be a ban on consumer fireworks adequately insulated, which will lead to an manure crops. giving them a second life. Repair businesses and carbide shooting. Professional fireworks almost 50% reduction in the demand for heat. • By adopting a practical and integral will fall under the no-tax percentage bracket or spectacles will be organised at locations Housing cooperatives will be obligated to approach to combat food waste, we will for the VAT. where humans, animals, nature and the insulate part of their buildings every year. For lower the energy requirements for our food environment will not be disturbed or home-owners, targeted financing instruments, consumption. damaged. such as building-related financing, will be • The industry will conserve 40% of its energy Generating sustainable energy implemented as quickly as possible. The consumption through a combination of increased revenues from the energy tax for lowering the demand for new products We are going to generate sustainable energy A quick and just energy transition producers and bulk consumers will be used to in specific sectors, the electrification of close to home. In 2030, we will make use of solar, issue subsidies to make lower-income housing processes, using fewer resources more wind, tidal, heat exchange and, where neces- We now have an opportunity to make the more energy-efficient and sustainable. efficiently, the application of green hydrogen, sary, geothermal energy sources. We will work Earth liveable and prevent dangerous climate • All government buildings will be made more more re-use and recycling techniques, and simultaneously on different solutions to achieve change. The energy transition required to realise energy-efficient and raised to a class A energy an average efficiency improvement of 2% per the speed required to meet this goal. The costs this will provide us with new jobs, equitable rating. year. of the transition should be shared equally; the largest polluters bear the greatest costs.

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arrangement that offers a 15-year exemption • The Party for the Animals will strive to go. We were dealing with overcrowded airspace, • Every house, office and building will be from energy taxes on the solar or wind energy develop an exit strategy for energy derived an explosive growth of traffic jams, and an energy-neutral by 2030. All new builds will that participants in a project generate jointly, from oil, coal and gas sources. Coal plants will expensive public transport system that was not theoretically be energy positive; they will will be expanded further. This measure will be closed down as quickly as possible. fully accessible and bursting at the seams. produce more energy than they use. These allow more people to make use of sustainable • The Netherlands will not build any new buildings will compensate for the older electricity. nuclear plants, and existing plants will Although the pandemic has been disastrous in buildings that cannot be made energy-neutral • Sustainable energy will be given priority on be closed down as quickly as possible. It almost every aspect, we have also experienced before 2030. the energy grid with smart grids fed by small- is morally irresponsible to burden future the advantages of less traffic. For a short while, • Every house, office and building will be scale and delocalised sources of green energy. generations with even more nuclear waste the sky was clear and clean. The streets were energy-neutral by 2030. All new builds will The privacy of the users and suppliers must be that will continue to be dangerous for quieter and more peaceful. People have become theoretically be energy positive; they will safeguarded during this process. thousands of years. Furthermore, constructing more aware of the climate and the environment produce more energy than they use. These • Proper regulation, including fiscal a nuclear plant will take decades, with costs and want to limit their flying and car use buildings will compensate for the older agreements, will be made for the generation going up into the tens of billions of euros. The behaviour. Nonetheless, air pollution is on the buildings that cannot be made energy-neutral and storage of energy at a district level. Such consequences of a nuclear accident would be rise again, and road traffic is well on its way to before 2030. rules will allow entire districts to generate and disastrous. clogging up the motorways again. The current • The government will set an example by share their energy sources. Self-generated • Wood-based biomass is not a sustainable government is steering towards the opening of making government property energy- electricity and heat must be returned to the energy source. This includes so-called the new Lelystad Airport to enable even more neutral and by investing in the sustainability central grid without taxation. Cooperative ‘scrap wood’, which fulfils a crucial role cheap holiday flights. of schools, sports facilities, healthcare ownership of energy sources and heat in ecosystems and therefore should not institutions and cultural institutions. networks by users will be encouraged. be considered suitable for burning. The If we go back to business as usual, we will be • Wind and solar energy will be made available • We will use sustainable low-temperature heat burning of biomass fuels to generate heat heading down a dead-end street. The Party on a large scale at locations where people, sources to heat homes and other buildings. and electricity will be banned. Subsidies for the Animals will therefore strive to create animals and nature experience little to no Investments will not be made in heat networks supporting this practice will be shut down a radical change in our mobility, a modal shift disruption. generated by fossil fuel energy from, for immediately. Manure is not a sustainable with less road traffic, fewer flights, faster and • Solar panels on buildings will become the example, refineries and waste incineration energy source because manure fermenters more comfortable public transport and priority standard. All new builds will be equipped facilities. We will not use biomass fuel for require a constant supply of animal manure to for pedestrians and cyclists. Smart logistics and with solar panels. No solar parks will be heating purposes and will eliminate any function. This will make maintaining excessive transportation will allow us to spare the climate built in nature preserves and, in principle, on associated subsidies. amounts of livestock in the livestock industry and make the air healthier again. More space will agricultural soil. The ‘solar ladder’ concept • We will strive to build a circular economy a goal in itself. The use of manure fermenters be made available for greenery on our streets, introduced by the National Environmental where the number of waste incineration will be scaled down. and it will become safer for children to play Federation that determines the placement of installations will decrease. We will prevent • Shale and coal gas will remain in the outside. solar panels, will be taken into consideration dependence on waste incineration as a source ground as the extraction of these gases when placing solar panels. of heat energy. will be prohibited. These strongly polluting • Wind parks at sea should have no visibly • We will encourage research into the substances will not cross European borders; Paving the way for pedestrians and cyclists adverse effects on marine life. For example, development of green hydrogen from wind the Netherlands will do its utmost to prevent piles will not be driven into the seafloor during and solar energy sources that can be used for that. Road traffic is responsible for 20% of CO2 the construction of wind parks. The best storage. • Diesel and petrol engines used in construction emissions. Furthermore, cars, vans and lorries possible technology must be implemented to • The use of gas for bulk consumers will must be replaced by cleaner and less noisy release high levels of fine particles and other prevent wind parks from creating victims. become more expensive over the next few alternatives. hazardous substances into the air we breathe. • Energy companies will be obligated to provide years, increasing the incentive to reduce Besides, all that traffic is taking up large areas a minimum percentage of sustainable energy gas consumption and switch to other forms of public space and is responsible for hundreds produced in the Netherlands. This percentage of energy. By 2030, the Netherlands will no Smart logistics and transport of deaths each year. If we give pedestrians and will be increased annually. We will set a limit longer use natural gas as an energy source. The cyclists the right of way in all our cities and to the emission of greenhouse gases from domestic demand for natural gas will decrease An accessible infrastructure, safe traffic and villages, that will make a world of difference. new and existing power plants. The limit will through the improved insulation of homes healthy air are necessary conditions for the well- With less motorised traffic, we will contribute periodically be adjusted to a lower level. and other buildings and by implementing being of everyone. However, we saw before the significantly to climate goals while benefitting • The PostCodeRoos arrangement, the alternative forms of central heating. coronavirus crisis that we still had a long way to from cleaner air and more space.

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• City centres will be made car-free as much as live in thinly populated areas. In those areas, choose to significantly reduce the aviation longer. Meeting and workspace facilities will possible. Parking can be done outside the city heavy investments will be made in the public industry. The number of flights will be become available at all junction stations. Every with proper park-and-ride facilities. The speed transport system to make residents less reduced to a maximum of 300,000 flights per train set will contain toilets, electrical sockets limit will be 30 km/hour in all built-up areas. dependent on the car. The new pricing model annum in 2030. and an internet connection. Train stations will More residential areas will be introduced will come with strict privacy safeguards. • A considerable CO2 tax will be implemented be made more accessible to older people, where the pedestrian is always given right • Speed limits will apply at night around nature that will apply to all polluting sectors. The people with a disability, and cyclists. Sufficient of way and where motorists are required to preserves in the interests of the safety of aviation and shipping industries will lose their secure and free bicycle parking proceed at a walking pace. Playing in the humans and animals alike. special status. facilities will be made available. Transfer streets and contact with the neighbours will • The speed limit on motorways will be • Tax incentives for air traffic, such as facilities for car-sharing services will also be become safer. restricted to 100 km per hour both day and exemption from VAT and excise duty, will be implemented. The public transport bicycle • In 2030, all traffic will run on 100% sustainable night, with a speed limit of 70 km per hour on abolished. We will implement an air passenger system will be expanded further to all train energy sources, primarily electricity and the ring roads. tax that increases the more often you fly. An stations and major public transport hubs. a small amount of green hydrogen, an • A less restrictive policy will be adopted additional air tax will be imposed on private • The train travel time between the Randstad alternative for heavy and international road for the implementation of speed cameras. jets. These measures will generate a revenue (western region) and the eastern and northern traffic and the shipping industry. In dangerous traffic situations, the public of at least 2.3 billion euros, which we will regions of the Netherlands will be decreased • We will invest in fast, safe and greener cycling prosecutor’s office will no longer have to wait use to develop sustainable transportation by at least 30 minutes. The Lelylijn will be paths. Existing cycling paths will be better until accidents happen before implementing methods. constructed as quickly as possible. This high- maintained. Traffic lights will be programmed cameras. • Support measures for the aviation industry speed train connection between Lelystad and to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists. • The use of shared electric cars will be will be used to facilitate the transition to Groningen can reduce the travel time between • Commuting by car will be discouraged, encouraged and made fiscally attractive. sustainable transport sectors, including the the north and the Randstad by an hour. We flexible working spaces and working from retraining of personnel. will also implement a new high-speed train home will be encouraged. We will continue to connection between and Breda. provide financial incentives for cycling, and Fewer flights, more trains • Through the expansion of light rail connections the fiscal deduction for commuting by car will Affordable, comfortable and sustainable such as the Randstadrail, we can make smaller be cut back. The needs of residents in less The Netherlands will strive to cut back public transport residential areas more accessible, thereby densely populated areas will be taken into significantly on flights from all Dutch airports. reducing commuter car traffic. consideration. This measure is necessary to curb the aviation We will invest in affordable, comfortable and • More buses will be implemented to expand • To improve air quality, we will actively work industry within the limits of what the climate, sustainable public transport. This is essential for the public transport network to a fine-mesh together with municipalities and provinces to living environment and the health of humans and our climate and for keeping our cities liveable. network. All newly purchased buses will run implement and expand low-emission zones. animals can take. Short flights will be replaced Improving accessibility to shrinking regions on 100% sustainable energy sources and, as of The conditions placed on vehicles that are by fast, comfortable and affordable train reduces the pressure on the cities. 2030, all buses will run by sustainable means. allowed inside a low-emission zone will be connections. On multiple carriage roads, lanes will be stricter. • Each neighbourhood, and all people with a converted into bus lanes, so public transport • Constructing more roads will not solve the • The train will become the travel mode of physical disability, will have easy access by will become faster and more reliable than the traffic jam issue. However, it will encourage choice for international journeys spanning public transport to educational, healthcare car, especially during rush hour. an increase in car use and, with it, a further less than 1200 kilometres. The Netherlands and governmental institutions. Public increase in fine particle and greenhouse gas will strive to develop affordable, sustainable transport will become reliable, affordable and emissions. Therefore, no more new roads will and fast train connections within Europe, accessible, in cities as well as in rural areas. Generating sustainable freight transport be constructed, and no existing roads will be with direct connections between key cities. • The VAT on public transport will be abolished. expanded unless it’s for the improvement of More international overnight trains will Public transport will be 50% cheaper by 2030. Freight transport will become quieter, cleaner traffic safety. That means that construction be implemented. Motorail trains will be • Train compartments will no longer be divided and climate-neutral, whether it’s transported by projects such as the expansion of the A4, reintroduced. More parking options for cycles into first and second-class compartments. train, by road, via waterways or through the A6, A58 and A27 near Amelisweerd and the will be made available on trains. Everyone must have access to a proper seat pipelines. This will enable us to make more northern Utrecht ring road will not continue. • The aviation industry will be cut back to a size for a reasonable price. Class discrimination responsible use of public areas. • Motorists who drive fewer kilometres will be that fits within the limits of what the climate, has no place in public transport. less heavily taxed than people who spend living environment and the health of humans • Train travel must be comfortable and must • In 2030, practically all new vans and lorries more time on the road. An exception to this and animals can take. The Netherlands will meet the needs of the traveller. The number of in the Netherlands will be electric vehicles. kilometre-based tax will apply to people who trains will be increased, and trains will become A small portion will run on green hydrogen

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generated from solar and wind energy. • Tax benefits on fossil fuels for the shipping industry will be eliminated. The income generated will be used for developing a sustainable shipping industry. Sustainable freight and passenger transport over water, including ferry services, will be encouraged. The use of shore-based power will be made compulsory for docked ships. • The practice of mixing hazardous waste into other waste streams will be banned. Businesses will no longer be allowed to mix chemical waste into car fuel or fuel oil for the shipping industry. • Commercial cruise ships are among the largest polluters on our planet. Therefore, an additional tax will be imposed on cruise ships, and the number of docking permits will be restricted.

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A government that puts health first The coronavirus pandemic has shaken everyone up and turned the world upside- down. The Party for the Animals has been warning everyone for years that our relationship with animals can lead to virus outbreaks in humans. Unfortunately, we have been proven right. It is time to re-evaluate our relationship with animals. More than ever, the pandemic has shown how vital our health is to our livelihood. It has made us realise how vital social contact is and how vulnerable our current healthcare system is. The Party for the Animals wants to work towards a healthy society where everyone can eat nutritious food, exercise and live in a healthy environment with enough greenery and clean air. We need a society where we reduce the risk of a new pandemic, put the health of humans before commercial interests, and give our healthcare system enough space and time to provide care for everyone who needs it.

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We currently live in an unhealthy environment attributed to lifestyle-related diseases. By putting But as long as we do not reduce the number trade in exotic animals. Dealing with this where an increasing number of people are an end to the increase in the number of chronic, of animals, the Dutch livestock industry will illegal trade at logistics hubs such as Schiphol dealing with lifestyle-related conditions such lifestyle-related conditions, we can also put an continue to be a ticking time bomb for a new Airport and the Port of Rotterdam will be as obesity, type 2 diabetes, lung disease and end to sky-high healthcare costs. pandemic. According to virologist Ron Fouchier given priority. cardiovascular disease. These people are from the Erasmus MC, we are only a few steps • The Netherlands will actively share its more vulnerable to falling victim to COVID-19 With a healthy living environment and a properly away from a mutation of the bird flu which, when knowledge on the international stage for the than other patients. Our basic health is being organised healthcare system, we will have a it becomes contagious among humans, could improvement of prevention and healthcare undermined by a failing policy. The government solid foundation to work from, but prevention is lead to a mortality rate a dozen times higher than systems around the world. allowed industry and mobility to seriously pollute always better than cure. Above all, we are going COVID-19. The Party for the Animals has been • Sufficient capacity and expertise will be the air over the years and let the food industry do to reduce the risk of another pandemic ever warning the government about this possibility implemented in the Ministries of Health and whatever it wanted. Unhealthy food has become breaking out. since 2006. Agriculture with regards to the zoonoses so accessible and so cheap that our public health dossier. is suffering as a result. How can we prevent a new and possibly even Preventing pandemics: reduce the risk of more serious epidemic? The chance of the Moreover, the coronavirus crisis mercilessly zoonotic disease outbreaks outbreak of a zoonotic disease decreases when Proper primary healthcare exposed the vulnerabilities in our healthcare we let nature run its course and stop crowding system. The chronic shortage of healthcare COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, an illness that is animals in stables where viruses have free rein to Everyone wants to be healthy and stay healthy. personnel led to difficult choices once transferred from animals to humans. Scientists mutate. The risk of a pandemic is much smaller That is why proper preventative measures are coronavirus patients started flooding the have been warning us about this for a while: in a healthy, green society with space for nature so critical. But the Dutch living environment is hospitals. Other healthcare services had to be 75% of all new infectious diseases currently and without bio-industry. making us ill. The current food supply is mostly scaled down or cancelled. There was an apparent threatening human health are zoonoses. The way unhealthy. We breathe in polluted air and take shortage of aids and particularly healthcare staff, we handle animals, therefore, poses a significant • The number of animals in the livestock the car rather than the bike, making our entire who were not only struggling with the excessive risk. The Netherlands has the dubious honour industry will be reduced by at least 75%. living environment subject to polluting motorised workload but also with the administrative of having the highest concentration of livestock Animal transport will last no longer than two traffic. burden. In recent years, pharmaceutical giants in the world. Giant stables housing thousands hours to minimise the risk of the development have continued to amass power, and one regional of cooped-up animals are a pressure cooker and spread of zoonoses. This unhealthy environment is no coincidence. health insurer after another has merged into for virus mutations. The impact of such a virus • Animals that live deep in the forest suddenly For years, powerful multinationals have been ever-greater conglomerations, while regional became evident with the coronavirus outbreak come into contact with human beings when given free rein to sell their harmful products and hospitals were being stripped down to the bare that spread from China to every corner of the their habitats are destroyed by deforestation, generate a healthy profit in the process. The bones or closed altogether. The over-the-top globe through human contact. The two largest allowing unknown diseases to be transmitted. Dutch government has done nothing to prevent market mechanism and privatisation have not European outbreaks of zoonoses both took place The Netherlands will stop importing products these marketing campaigns for unhealthy improved the quality and capacity of healthcare in the Netherlands; the bird flu in 2003 and that are the result of large-scale deforestation. products. The public was dependent on public facilities – quite the contrary! the Q fever outbreak between 2007 and 2010 • Changes in the climate and the biodiversity campaigns from the government for information where residents living in the vicinity of goat crisis are throwing the world out of balance. about healthier eating and lifestyle habits; these We will deal with the obstacles that have stables died or became seriously, chronically ill. Zoonoses and their rapid distribution campaigns had only a fraction of the marketing been exposed and learn from the lessons the The Netherlands wasn’t prepared then, and the are one of the many symptoms. Through budgets the multinationals had. A lack of further coronavirus crisis has taught us. The Party for the government failed to protect public health. The climate change, exotic diseases also spread policy led to an excess of cheap and unhealthy Animals wants to manage our healthcare system interests of goat farmers weighed too heavily, quicker throughout the world via insects, for food on every street corner and a heavily on a smaller scale, where the patient instead of allowing Q fever to spread, resulting in severe example. In the interests of our health, we polluted atmosphere. That makes living a healthy profit comes first, and with healthcare employees consequences. The public health should have will do everything we can to minimise global life a lot harder. So, it is no wonder that we behind the wheel. If we as a government take come first in this case. warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius suffer from widespread obesity, cardiovascular over the reins from the food industry and the and to prevent the destruction of our natural disease, lung disease, type 2 diabetes – over 1.1 sugar, alcohol and tobacco lobbies, we can Thanks to an accepted proposal from the Party environment. million Dutch patients – and other, often chronic, create an environment that will contribute for the Animals, from now on, the Minister of • Animals living in the wild can also carry conditions. Meanwhile, healthcare costs are positively to our health. And to the affordability Health rather than the Minister of Agriculture will unknown diseases with them. The rising dramatically and continue to do so every of healthcare: because no less than a third of be responsible for managing the prevention of Netherlands is a hub in the international year, something that is publicly visible in the our ever-increasing healthcare costs can be and combating diseases originating in animals. annual increase in health insurance premiums.

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Even now, a third of those healthcare costs are sugar tax. In other countries, this has ensured make plant-based food the rule rather than the A healthy living environment the result of lifestyle-related conditions, and this that manufacturers add less sugar to their soft exception! number is expected to rise by billions of euros drinks. Too much public space is designed around cars if we don’t act now. The government must take • The current prevention agreement is a • The range of food products available will be and traffic. Playing and participating in outdoor control and clamp down on the power of the food covenant in which the food industry has geared toward sustainable options. Plant- sports is healthy, but this is made difficult with industry and the tobacco lobby. Only then will played a large part, with the result that based foods will become the standard, animal cars constantly racing past. The life span of healthcare costs decrease and the Netherlands little has changed. We will draw up a new products the exception. The successful residents in our largest cities is, on average, become a country with healthier residents. prevention agreement that puts the health of concept ‘Carnivore? Let us know! (‘Carnivoor? a year shorter because of poor air quality. the public first rather than the interests of the Geef het door!’, a campaign to change food Nonetheless, strict measures have not yet been food industry. consumption patterns by serving plant-based put into place to combat this. We want people to The food sector • By no longer adding VAT to organic food at catered events by default unless be able to participate in outdoor exercise more vegetables and fruits, we will make healthy attendees specifically request otherwise) is often without having to worry about unhealthy You don’t have to look far in the Netherlands food affordable and an attractive option once fully encouraged and will be adopted in all air due to automobile emissions, the burning of to find fatty fast food. Fast-food chains and more. government agencies. wood fuels, and the livestock industry. Cyclists snack bars can be found on virtually every street • Misleading food labels will be abolished. • Children will learn to eat a varied diet and eat and pedestrians will be given ample space and corner and at every train station. To find organic, • Children who are not given breakfast at home plant-based foods at school. children should be able to play outside in a safe unprocessed foods, you have to travel farther and for whatever reason will be allowed to have • We will start a large-scale, long-term public and stimulating environment. Football fields pay a lot more than you do for those processed breakfast at school or in childcare. Only campaign to highlight the advantages and youth centres encourage young people to snacks, which are full of sugar, salt and fat. healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables of plant-based and organic foods. The exercise and engage in social activities. The government allows supermarkets to offer will be provided at these locations, and sugary Voedingscentrum (Dutch nutrition centre) will endless promotions with unhealthy products, and drinks will no longer be served. be actively involved. • The current EU standards regarding air quality children at schools can satisfy their hunger and • Organic, locally grown school fruit and fresh • Hospitals and nursing homes will serve are not stringent enough to protect our thirst at the sponsored vending machines filled lunches will replace vending machines selling healthy, plant-based and organic foods. Until health. That’s why the much stricter WHO air with soft drinks and sweets. It’s time for change. soft drinks and sweets. then, at least one entirely plant-based meal quality standards will become legally binding We will put an end to the tyranny of the food • Space will be made for neighbourhood option will be offered on the menu. Patients instead. industry. Our health will no longer take second vegetable gardens. These gardens will bring and residents will always have access to fresh • By making town centres solely accessible place to the profit of multinationals; it will take people back in touch with food, with nature fruit. to local traffic, we will make the air cleaner. precedent. We are going to make the food sector and with their neighbours. • The current Dutch lunch culture offers Areas where even the EU standards for healthy again. • Rather than the highest-bidding multinational, more opportunities for fruit and vegetable air quality are not being met will be given healthy products will be given the most consumption. We are going to encourage priority. • Factory-produced food will be dealt with: prominent place on supermarket shelves. company canteens to provide healthy meals • When wood is burned, various different legal standards will ensure that we eat less by offering them tax incentives. hazardous, often carcinogenic substances salt, sugar and fats. Until then, the promotion • Mobile government teams are going to that are damaging to the environment, the of these types of products will be banned. A plant-based future starts now develop tasty, plant-based meals and public health, and the climate are released • The marketing of products containing too provide on-site workshops to large catering into the atmosphere. The high emissions of much sugar, salt or fat to children will be Every week we see cut-rate, cheap meat companies and canteens. fine particles can lead to serious health issues forbidden. There will be no advertising for and products being promoted, while we already • The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the in children, older people and lung patients. with sweets and fast food aimed at children eat far too much meat. The high average meat livestock industry will be brought to an end Therefore, we will phase out the burning of below the age of 12. This advertising includes consumption – 39 kilos per person per year – as this practice leads to bacterial resistance. wood fuels. Until then, a national standard newer forms of marketing, such as that done contributes to the rise of cardiovascular disease The bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, for the burning of fuels will be adopted and via influencers and vlogs. and type 2 diabetes as well as being linked to making it more difficult to treat infections. As enforced. During unfavourable weather • We will restrict the number of new various types of cancer. The Health Council of long as this practice continues, consumers conditions, such as mist or lack of wind, the establishments opened by fast-food chains the Netherlands has been advising people for must be warned about the risks of multi- burning of wood fuels will not be permitted. and snack bars. In any case, they will not be years to eat less meat and to choose a vegetarian resistant bacteria and salmonella on the meat • Starting from an early age, we will give more allowed to open in the vicinity of schools. or plant-based alternative more often. By eating label. and better information to young people about • Producers of unhealthy food will be taxed less meat, you’re helping nature, the climate the hazardous effects of alcohol use, and we more heavily, for example, by implementing a and, of course, the animals. It is high time to will continue strict monitoring of the minimum

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legal age of 18 years. Advertising for alcoholic or university. Symptoms of mass depression and • Mental health services will become part of the consults and listen to the patient. We will drinks will be forbidden. burnout are just around the corner. We must healthcare programme in every neighbourhood. make sure that the standard number of • We will work towards a smoke-free create an environment in which we can truly patients per family doctor will be lowered. generation. The sale of cigarettes, find peace of mind and become psychologically • Compensation for contraceptives will be e-cigarettes and other tobacco products will healthier. The rat race and the constant state of Report problems early to prevent escalation returned to the basic healthcare package for be licensed and only allowed at tobacconists’ alertness will make way for tranquillity and caring all ages. shops. The prices will be substantially for each other. A family doctor or therapist should quickly see • The HIV prevention medication PrEP will be increased. people with physical or mental symptoms. Timely made accessible and refundable for people at • Safe, eco-friendly playgrounds will be made • Greenery does wonders in this regard. A living intervention will prevent the situation from higher risk of HIV infection. accessible for all children living in a residential environment with plenty of nature reduces worsening or requiring specialised healthcare; • Social work will be sufficiently supported by area. stress levels. Being in the outdoors reduces this requires accessible healthcare and the idea the government and further integrated into • In each neighbourhood, space will be created pain and negative emotions and should, that everyone is heard. The primary care services other healthcare services. If social workers for sports facilities for young people, such therefore, be made accessible to everyone. provided by family doctors, for example, are can diagnose psycho-social symptoms in a as public football and basketball pitches Nature is energising and invites people to get critical for the early diagnosis of conditions timely fashion, worse problems can be nipped and skate parks. Earlier cut-backs in the moving. We are going to turn residential areas before intensive medication or surgery is in the bud. development of youth centres will be and cities into green spaces. required. The pressure on primary care has only • The government will develop a campaign to reversed. • Mental health starts at school. During lessons, increased over the past years. That pressure encourage breast-feeding. We will adjust • Sports will play a crucial role in our society. time will be devoted to the pressures created needs to decrease. That is better for both the the expected growth curves of babies to It not only improves our physical and by social media to look a certain way, wear patient and the healthcare professional. accommodate this trend; current curves are mental well-being but also contributes to certain clothes, or go to the right parties. based on bottle-fed babies. Employers will self-sufficiency, such as is the case with The lessons will also focus on the difference • Lifestyle interventions, in which patients are provide spaces for lactation and this will be swimming. Sports also have an important between the images portrayed on social advised on healthy nutrition and exercise, properly monitored. More research will be social function in which sports clubs play a media and reality. Full attention will be given are expected to decrease the number of type conducted into the development of formula crucial role. The practice of sports in a club to bullying, and this type of behaviour will be 2 diabetes patients that require medication without cow’s milk. Proper guidance and setting should be made possible for everyone. actively discouraged by institutions such as by 30 to 40%. These interventions can also support from lactation consultants will become Sport canteens will be encouraged to offer schools, day-care centres and sports clubs. reduce the risk of other conditions. We are an important condition and should, therefore, primarily healthy food and drinks. • An extensive plan of action for mental going to thoroughly assess the effectiveness be included in the basic healthcare package. • The government will take responsibility for well-being will be implemented, involving of lifestyle interventions and focus more on • Vaccinations will not be made compulsory, proper education about the health risks educational institutions and employer and training family doctors and other healthcare directly or indirectly. However, extensive associated with soft drug use. No new coffee employee organisations as well as healthcare professionals. information about vaccinations will be made shops will be built within the vicinity of professionals. • The limited budgets provided by health available to the public. schools. • An integral approach to suicide prevention insurers means that family doctors are limited • The maximum age for youth welfare services involving the education, healthcare and in their provision of lifestyle interventions. will be increased to 21 years. These services social-economic sectors is needed to reduce Family doctors must be able to declare any will be gradually scaled down after the age of 18. A less stressful life the number of suicides. costs for lifestyle consults. • People who need mental healthcare • People stay away from the dentist for fear People in the Netherlands face increasing regularly spend years on waitlists, deprived of large bills, while that only leads to far Healthcare for everyone pressure from their work environments. We’re of timely and effective treatment. We will more expensive treatments in the long term. almost always in ‘available’ mode. Work and reduce the waitlists and wait times in the Dental care will be reintroduced to the basic The coronavirus crisis has shown how important personal life are hardly distinguishable from each mental health services (GGZ) by investing healthcare package. healthcare is and how dependent we have other, especially now that we work from home in enough subsidised retraining and • General practices will remain easily accessible become on multinationals for our medications so much. We are constantly available via our training opportunities, a reduction in the to everyone. We will intervene if excessive and healthcare materials. While healthcare smartphones, and social media drains our energy administrative burden, and a reduction in rental fees lead to family doctors having to managers awarded themselves absurdly high reserves. Young people also struggle. Now that costs by encouraging professionals to enter relocate away from town centres and sought- bonuses, underpaid nurses worked long days the economy is struggling, many young people paid employment. Until then, we will ensure after neighbourhoods. with a pitiful one-time bonus as thanks for their are worried about their futures, and they miss that sufficient transitional care and additional • Fewer patients per family doctor will give efforts. One thing is clear: healthcare should social activities and in-person classes at school temporary inpatient capacity will become the family doctor room to schedule longer not be market-driven. One in every six people available.

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in our workforce works in the healthcare sector. • We will invest significantly in healthcare regarding the availability and quality of compensated. Health insurers will provide Healthcare needs to be an attractive working professionals: room for training and follow- youth welfare services are unacceptable. compensation for other types of preventive environment. The turnover in the healthcare up training and proper terms of employment Decentralisation came with irresponsible measures: we will build a healthcare system sector, however, is also high. A large portion should be a matter of course. Wages will funding cuts. We will make sure that that is more focused on counselling and of healthcare workers end their healthcare increase. Healthcare employees will have a every municipality has sufficient means guidance to keep us fit and healthy. careers after a few years and do not return. greater say in their work and their schedules. for an adequately organised youth welfare • We will put a limit to the profits that health The over-the-top bureaucracy has ensured These measures will also make it more programme. insurers are allowed to make. that professionals in the field have increasingly appealing for young people to choose a job • Youth welfare waitlists will actively be dealt less influence on processes and need to justify in healthcare and remain there. Medical with. everything they do. Any time they spend filling specialists will be paid standard wages. • Caregivers will be supported both financially Consideration of every need out forms and protocols is time that cannot be • The market mechanism has led to a waste of and by other resources, and increased devoted to patient care. We’re going to turn this funds, whilst the financing of the healthcare counselling will be offered to mitigate the A patient is a person, not a number; and that around. Management layers will be descaled, sector is under immense strain. A task force strain on caregivers. For the accessibility and is how we are going to treat people. From now and we’ll declare an end to the bureaucracy. will be implemented to reduce redundancy evaluation of healthcare options, the role of on, anyone who has symptoms will find what We want more hands-on medical staff and in the healthcare sector on all fronts and to caregivers will be taken into consideration. they need in the Dutch healthcare system. The more healthcare professionals at the helm, abolish incentives that do not make sense. government will guarantee a wide selection combined with a suitable increase in wages • There will be an increase in capacity in of healthcare services. Healthcare will remain and a reduced workload. These measures will healthcare. More IC beds, equipment and, Suitable health insurance regionally accessible, and local hospitals will make the healthcare sector a more pleasant above all, more staff will improve the quality continue to exist. Making the management environment for patients as well. More care of care and ensure that we are capable of Health insurance companies have been given of these institutions a matter of regional and freedom of choice for patients will lead to handling a potential future disease outbreak. too much power. They decide where we should governance may support this trend, but in the higher quality healthcare. That is why we will We will stock up on crucial medications and go for our healthcare and increase premiums past, this has proved to be more of a cut-back also strive to promote small-scale primary care medical aids. Essential materials and aids will time and time again as they rake in huge profits measure in disguise. That will no longer be the and prevent the merging of large-scale hospitals. be produced in Europe from now on. and inundate us with expensive advertising case: municipalities will be given sufficient These measures will make bespoke healthcare • Regional hospitals will be financially healthy campaigns. The price of healthcare continues means to provide proper healthcare, means accessible to everyone. and will no longer be swallowed up in to rise, but the benefits are increasingly hard to which will only be used to this end. The costs, mergers. Such measures will ensure that find. We will make health insurance fair and in execution and quality of care will be the same in proper healthcare remains accessible to transparent again. every municipality. More care, less profit everyone. Each regional hospital will have a delivery room available so that parents-to-be • Out-of-pocket deductions will be abolished. • Living accommodations housing multiple Cut-backs, privatisation and marketisation have are always able to reach a hospital on time. • The national health insurance fund will be generations will be encouraged through fiscal ensured that the healthcare sector is primarily Specialised hospitals will treat only complex reinstated with extensive coverage, including stimulus, and there will be more space for the geared towards the optimisation of profits. healthcare cases. dental hygiene, physiotherapy, and temporary development of other forms of cohabitation Pharmaceutical companies and management • The breakdown of medication prices will as well as permanent contraceptives. The where people can care for each other. levels in increasingly large-scale hospitals are be made public, and cheaper, generic premium paid will become dependent on • Care centres with a particular identity will often more interested in making a profit than in medications will be used wherever possible income. People who can afford private health be supported. Examples are elderly care the patients themselves. We are going to change to prevent sky-high medication prices. A insurance will need to use private health institutions that take people who identify as this. We want staff to spend time at the patient’s monopoly on a type of medicine should not insurance, but we will cap premiums for LGBTIQA+ or people with different cultural bedside rather than filling out reports behind pose a barrier to its availability. these services as well. This system will make backgrounds into consideration. their desks. • Care under the Social Support Act (Wmo) and healthcare allowances redundant. • More attention will be given to diversity care for people with a disability will preferably • The healthcare system and the associated during medical training, healthcare • We will immediately abolish the exorbitant be offered at a small-scale and regional level compensation from insurers are too focused treatment options, and the development of pay, dividends and bonuses awarded at and will be the same for every municipality. on surgeries, treatments and medications. medications. By diversity, we mean health- the top level of healthcare management. The care you receive should not be dependent Preventative measures – such as advice from related differences in social-economic status, Management layers will be cut back where on which municipality you live in. Healthcare dieticians, substance abuse counselling, and gender, cultural background, and ethnicity. possible, and the resulting budget will be professionals who are operating under this act services to help stop smoking – will remain in Accessible, bespoke healthcare will be a invested in the people actually administering will receive better support and higher wages. the basic healthcare package and will be fully guiding principle. the care. • The differences between municipalities

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• It should be much easier for victims of themselves as a burden to others or don’t feel domestic violence to report incidences welcome within the community. Establishing and seek refuge in a crisis shelter. More a legal age limit for assisted dying would be emergency shelters must be implemented to arbitrary and would lead to grave societal facilitate this. Pets should also be welcome consequences. We will focus our attention on or should be cared for somewhere else at re-evaluating old age and the prevention of no extra cost via the shelter network. The loneliness among the elderly. Municipalities and police, youth welfare services, schools, and care institutions will be given sufficient means social district teams will focus on recognising to provide a pleasant living environment and domestic violence situations so that they can enough activities for the elderly. be detected at an early stage. • The police and justice department will focus • In recent years, there has been extensive more on femicide. Measures will be taken to societal debate about assisted suicide, for reduce the occurrence of femicide. people such as older people who consider • The elderly will be able to choose between their lives complete. The Party for the Animals good quality care at home or a vacancy in an values self-determination and believes elderly care home. Enough district nurses will that people should be able to decide for be available. We will reduce the long waitlists themselves when they wish to die with dignity. for elderly care homes by building more but However, an extremely well-thought-out smaller-scale residences, and by offering process should precede this choice. sufficient day activities for older people living at home. • The freedom to use alternative therapies must be safeguarded. Conditions will be imposed on healthcare professional with regards to the provision of information about their qualifications and treatments. • Home deliveries will remain a possibility everywhere, but it has to be a choice and not a necessity due to a lack of available delivery rooms in the area. The out-of-pocket contribution for outpatient deliveries will be eliminated so that everyone is free to make their own choice. • Transgender people will be given extensive information from the doctors involved and more freedom of choice in hormone and surgical treatment options.

Living a full life

The Party for the Animals subscribes to the principle that people should have control over their own lives, certainly when it comes to their dying wishes. Society is also responsible for making sure that people don’t start seeing

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Appropriate and affordable housing in green surrounding The coronavirus crisis has caused a lot of Dutch people to think about their housing wishes and opportunities. The lockdown Concept and working from home trend has made it clear that people crave nature and a green living environment. It has also become apparent that in recent years, we have encroached far too much on that green living space. Anyone looking for a breath of fresh air soon finds themselves in an overcrowded park. More greenery is critical to the quality of life. Young families say that more space and quiet around them literally and figuratively gives them more room to breathe. The trend that had already started before the coronavirus hit was that more people were starting to look for a home outside the city. There is enough space in the Netherlands for quality and affordable housing in a pleasant living environment. What is needed, however, is for the political system to pluck up enough courage to make clear choices. The Party for the Animals will make that choice. Instead of creating monocultures for the livestock industry, we will create natural areas and space to live. We will ensure a green and healthy living environment where people can live together in harmony in affordable homes in spaciously laid-out green neighbourhoods.

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A roof over your head is a basic human right. drastically decreases. No less than two-thirds pressure. We urgently need more space for our liveability, landscape, cultural history, and the Nonetheless, a lot of people have trouble finding of the total surface area of the Netherlands is natural environment. Climate measures also natural environment of the area. a home. The housing crisis has never been this used for agriculture. In most cases, this land require space. That is why it is essential for us to great: one million homes will need to be added is used for the cultivation of animal feed that take a critical look at the current division of land In this way, more people will be able to live in a by 2030 to put an end to this crisis. The ‘free’ not only literally swallows the available ground in our country, and replace our current, visionless pleasant green environment while we resolve the housing market seems to be mostly free for rack- whole but also facilitates the emission of fine land policy with a sustainable plan. We need a housing shortage issue at the same time. And the renting landlords and speculators. Regular buyers particles, nitrogen and greenhouse gases into fairer, smarter, and more sustainable distribution city will always be nearby. With proper public and tenants are left by the wayside. Moreover, the atmosphere. All those vast green swatches of land in urban areas. Examples are splitting up transport connections and cycling highways, we the current housing situation is not geared of English ryegrass and silage maize serve no houses, making use of vacant spaces, limiting the will make sure that the urban areas remain easily towards future demographic developments. other purpose than to feed the overabundance renting out of homes to tourists and encouraging accessible for everyone. By working more often There is an increasing need for one-person of animals in the livestock industry, depriving households to share living space instead of from home and conducting meetings online when homes, but also for multi-generational people, animals, trees and plants of the space discouraging people from different households your work permits it, commuting to and from accommodations where children, parents and necessary for a natural living environment. At from living together. work every day is no longer required in many grandparents can live together and take care of the same time, homes and nature areas are cases. Formerly shrinking regions will become each other. Free housing market? It’s time once scarce. There are plenty of opportunities here. By To keep the cities habitable, we will not develop appealing again and will be given a fresh boost. again for public housing! keeping fewer animals in the livestock industry, areas where there is little greenery or where The increased number of residents in these we can convert some of the Dutch agricultural the pressures on the existing infrastructure areas will form a lifeline for the facilities whose Moreover, we are faced with a massive challenge fields to make room for other land uses. For are already high. Where there is room for existence was threatened by the decreasing in making our homes more sustainable and the most part for nature areas, but also for the densification, we will invest in extra greenery number of residents, such as supermarkets, our living environments greener to achieve our construction of homes so that we can meet the to keep the city habitable. We will primarily primary schools, hospitals and libraries. climate goals and meet the consequences of housing need. Together with the conversion of focus on transformation areas. By restructuring climate change such as increased temperatures transformation areas into residential areas and business parks to accommodate two or even • We will make room for housing.. By opting for and heavy rainfall. Too little has been done in this the densification of urban areas where possible three different land uses, these areas will be a drastic reduction in the number of animals regard in recent years: outdoor spaces are paved without disrupting the greenery and liveability used much more effectively, making expansion in the livestock industry, we will free up plenty over, trees are chopped down, and solar panels of the area, we can generate enough space to unnecessary. We will convert obsolete business of agricultural lands and buildings (and finally on roofs are unfortunately still the exception provide the necessary homes at an affordable areas into green residential areas. Offices put an end to the odour problem). This will not rather than the rule. price with a quality boost for the landscape. We and shops that continue to remain vacant will only allow nature to recover but creates space will create space for nature and the construction be converted into living spaces. This entails for homes. A proper public transport system The Party for the Animals wants to resolve the of houses without denying anyone anything while accepting that not everyone can live in and and high-speed cycling connections will housing shortage sustainably. We want students improving the living climate, living environment around the historic city centres. If we can build ensure maximum, sustainable accessibility. to live in affordable rooms in converted office and biodiversity. in cities, then we will choose to build houses • To facilitate this creation of living space, buildings and flexible accommodations. We want rather than hotels or offices as we do now. These a ‘living space ladder’ will be developed. young families to find a rental or mortgaged measures will help resolve the housing crisis, but First, existing structures will be used more house that fits their family situation. We want Better space distribution: more homes! it will not be enough! efficiently, for example by converting office born-and-bred city people not to be driven buildings, making use of existing vacant away from their city homes. And we want older The housing market has completely stagnated. It is impractical and indefensible that almost half spaces and encouraging people to move up people to live out their lives in single-floor The demand for homes is greater than the supply, of Dutch soil is used for the livestock industry the housing ladder. Then we will look for homes tailored to their needs. That requires and many people are no longer able to find an while our natural environment wastes away, and opportunities for the densification of urban radical choices. We’re not going to survive with affordable home. The housing market should no we are faced with a distressing shortage of living areas, in areas where liveability will not be small changes. We can only make bespoke longer revolve around generating maximum profit space. By helping farmers convert to sustainable compromised. Finally, construction will take housing available for everyone through a better for investors but around public housing: finding agriculture, land will become available that place on the outskirts of existing residential distribution of space in the Netherlands. We a suitable home for everyone! We will ensure the we can then distribute more equitably. We will areas. In areas where the natural environment can no longer explain why the Netherlands availability of enough affordable housing that can convert most of this land into nature areas for will not be adversely affected, agricultural wants to be the world’s dairy farmer and easily be transformed as the demand for homes biodiversity recovery. This will also provide buildings can be converted into homes. Public butcher, exporting cheese to Canada and pigs changes. more space for homes in or instead of former transport investments will ensure proper to China, while there is barely room left for the farms and on the outskirts of existing residential accessibility to these areas. Dutch population to live and the biodiversity In the Netherlands, the landscape is under great areas, without this coming at the expense of the

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• Business parks that are no longer in use brick wall, while a small group of people makes and thus contribute to the social cohesion in city never be grounds for refusal when taking in a or cause too much inconvenience to the vast amounts of money from the current housing neighbourhoods. homeless person. A suitable shelter such as surrounding residential areas will be need. Some speculators own hundreds of houses. an animal shelter, for example, will be found transformed into residential areas and green We will discourage rack-renting and speculation • A Ministry for Housing and Spatial Planning for pets if they cannot be taken in by the spaces such as parks, or into areas with a by implementing measures for the distribution of will be implemented. homeless shelter. combination of clean, circular businesses homes at a local level. • We will build more social housing. With • People without a valid residency permit will and homes. The liveability of the area and a financial incentive from the central receive day and night shelter and will receive the effects on the city infrastructure will be • Affordable owner-occupied homes are government, housing corporations will be legal and social counselling. Municipalities taken into consideration. The green area nowhere to be found, especially in large assisted in their task of building new homes. will receive support from the central surrounding cities will remain green. cities. By implementing a residency obligation • By raising the maximum income level, social government to facilitate this. • The shortage of student housing will be and setting a maximum on the number of housing will become available to more people. resolved by quickly creating sustainable buildings an individual or business in a city • A growing number of people are struggling housing, preferably in vacant buildings may own, we will break up the housing sector with high rents. We will freeze rental fees for Green cities and villages such as office buildings. In areas with and make it accessible for people who are the next five years. an acute housing shortage, temporary actually looking to live in a home. • We will limit the market mechanisms Green surroundings make us happier and accommodations can be introduced, provided • Regulations will be put into place for the operating in the rental sector by putting a cap healthier, but there is not enough greenery in and they’re sustainable and fully recyclable. temporary renting out of living space to on prices. Rental homes in the private sector around our cities. This fact became abundantly • Buildings will be constructed in such a way tourists. Municipalities will be given room to will also fall under the home appraisal system. clear during the first weeks of the coronavirus that they can easily be converted for another limit holiday rentals and even prohibit holiday The appraised value of a house (WOZ-waarde) crisis when even city parks had to be closed off, type of use. rentals when they are a source of disturbance will no longer be taken into consideration in and visits to nature reserves were restricted. • Vacant office buildings will be redeveloped and degradation in the area. the home appraisal system. This will prevent That is why we are going to implement more and given another function, as housing, • A levy on vacant buildings and lots in homes in popular areas from gaining too accessible nature areas around the cities and for example. The construction of new construction projects will make it unappealing many points with skyrocketing rental fees as radically introduce greenery into towns and office buildings and business parks will to keep buildings empty and to speculate with a result. These measures will decrease the villages. Green facades, roofs, pavements, be discouraged. Experiments with living construction sites. rental prices. canopies, natural playgrounds, neighbourhood arrangements and communities can be • Rental prices will also be limited in the free • Social housing will no longer be sold off vegetable gardens: they all make life in urban conducted on former farms, where young and market sector. unless it is replaced on a one-on-one basis areas more pleasant and more social. Now that old can live together and support each other. • The conveyance tax will still be differentiated: in the same municipality. In this regard, the we see a rise in the number and duration of • Multi-generational housing will be investors pay more, residents pay less. The proper distribution of social housing per heatwaves, green in urban areas is particularly encouraged, and a substantial part of new conveyance tax will be reimbursed wholly district will be taken into consideration. important for providing shade. During heavy builds will be reserved for this purpose, just or in part if buyers have made their home • Gentrification will be combated with the rains, that same greenery helps prevent flooding. like other types of housing where living and energy-neutral within a year. development of mixed neighbourhoods, Moreover, urban nature attracts animals and care are combined. • The government will crack down on where residents with different incomes, making our living environment green gives a • It should be easier to take out a mortgage fraudulent rental scams and rent-racking backgrounds and lifestyles come together. much-needed boost to Dutch biodiversity. with more than two people, and this should be practices. The character of these neighbourhoods and possible at all mortgage providers. the rights of the people who already live there We must also develop a Delta plan for renewing • We are against the ‘boxification’ of our will be protected. nature. The Netherlands is home to about 300 landscape. The construction of distribution A suitable home for everyone • Evictions and out-of-home placements will million trees; that’s 17 trees per resident. We need centres and large office buildings will be be prevented by offering adequate and timely to treasure those trees because it takes years suspended. No new industrial buildings will Moving up the housing ladder will be made debt counselling. Immediate out-of-home before a tree is large enough to become truly be built as long as empty industrial buildings easier by offering enough homes in every placement due to late payments will be valuable. But every time we find new reasons are still available in the region. segment of the housing market. The fact that prohibited. to chop down trees. Dutch elm disease, the oak some people now have to wait 15 years for • Nobody should have to sleep on the streets. processionary caterpillar, the European spruce social housing is unacceptable. By improving Each municipality will have sufficient free bark beetle, road expansion and construction Putting an end to speculation the general flow and building more houses, we beds for those who need them, including projects are all reasons why trees are not safe will reduce these waitlists. This will allow young self-sustaining homeless people. In adverse in the Netherlands. Therefore, the Party for the Houses are meant to live in, not to be used to people who would like to stay in their home or cold weather conditions, a pet should Animals wants to strive for a substantial growth generate a profit. The housing market has hit a town to remain in their familiar surroundings

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of our forests and the protection of existing ideas for green initiatives and will not create be given the highest priority. It is time for a Delta and storage of energy at a district level. Such trees. barriers to their implementation. plan for sustainability with smart, measurable rules will allow entire districts to generate and • Permit proposals for construction plans will be goals. The techniques are already available and share their energy sources. • A large tree removes CO2 from the air, denied if the quality of the living environment have become more feasible and affordable in • Government buildings will meet class A promotes biodiversity, has a mitigating effect is at stake. This also applies to permits for recent years. Therefore, setting this development energy rating standards or will be renovated on flooding and drought, and has the same renovations or below-ground construction. in motion is primarily a matter of political will! to meet these standards. cooling power as ten energy-guzzling air • We will encourage and inform citizens • Property taxes (ozb) will be differentiated conditioners in warm conditions. We should about ways to add green to their gardens. • All new building projects will be gas- according to the energy rating and energy be planting trees instead of chopping them Municipalities will set an example and will free, at least energy neutral and, where consumption of the property. down! We will enforce stricter criteria for remove tiles from paved areas to make way possible, energy positive. These buildings • We will maintain the current system of giving felling permits and encourage the large-scale for more greenery. The construction of green will compensate for the older buildings that compensation for the excess production planting of trees: at least one new tree per facades, green roofs and detaching rainwater cannot be made energy-neutral before 2030. of clean energy. Any electricity that you inhabitant per year, not only in natural areas run-off from the sewer grid (using bioswales, • We don’t have to produce energy that generate yourself must be returned to the but especially in urban areas. for example) will be encouraged through we don’t use. That is why we will commit central electricity grid and subtracted from • Each year, the cabinet further decreases subsidies. ourselves fully to energy conservation, where the price that you pay for your energy. Tax- the annual government budget for greenery • Government institutions will maintain we strive to decrease energy consumption free! and recreation without good reason. We are public spaces without the use of hazardous by 65% by the year 2030. We will do this by a long way from meeting the challenge of substances. They will take measures against insulating homes on a large scale, providing providing enough accessible greenery, as the litter and the illegal dumping of garbage on better education about conscientious energy Sustainable construction overcrowded parks during the coronavirus the street and in municipal green areas. usage, and establishing requirements relative crisis have shown us. We are going to make • The protection of our public health, the to the energy consumption of domestic Traditional construction materials such as sure that there is enough money available to environment and the landscape should come appliances and lights. concrete and steel have a large carbon footprint. preserve and create nature reserves. Because first in the Environment and Planning Act. • Housing corporations will be allowed to In recent years, the construction sector has we urgently need more natural environments, The proposed act cannot take effect until keep their landlord levy if the amount worked hard to improve recycling, innovations both in large interconnected areas and in and appropriate agreements have been made in is used for sustainable housing and for and techniques that use less energy, and around our urban areas. this regard. overdue maintenance on houses. This will materials that can easily be reused. We are going • New building projects will be made nature- lead to reduced energy consumption and to take full advantage of these developments inclusive through measures such as green greater living comfort. A clear step-by-step by promoting the implementation of bio-based roofs and walls, nesting opportunities for An energy-neutral housing stock by 2030: plan will be drawn up to make the housing construction. animals, trees and shrubs in the street and we can do it! corporations’ housing stock energy-neutral natural play areas just around the corner. by 2030. The landlord levy will eventually be • We will build towards a circular construction Consideration for nature will be compulsory The built-up environment is currently responsible abolished. sector. Recycled and natural materials will for the renovation and insulation of for 30% of national CO2 emissions. We still have • We will start putting our roofs to good use. be used as much as possible, and buildings existing buildings. If, for example, a nesting a lot of ground to cover to meet our climate Solar panels on buildings will become the will come with a materials passport, so that opportunity for birds is no longer available goals. If we are smart about our approach, standard. All new builds will be equipped with the materials can be reused after demolition. because of roof insulation, an alternative our housing stock will be energy-neutral by solar panels and green roofs, and the storage These practices will also apply to the needs to be found nearby. 2030. Making our existing homes more energy- of rainwater will be made compulsory for new renovation and insulation of existing buildings. • Each municipality should meet the standard of efficient generally leads to greater living builds, as is already the case in . • Construction materials will be produced at least 50 m2 quality green per resident. comfort. The challenge to make our homes • Insulation and improving the sustainability of using methods that are as climate and • Vacant lots will be actively used for urban energy-efficient requires a notable investment homes will be made financially attractive by environmentally friendly as possible, and we agriculture, the development of natural areas, from the government and homeowners alike. increasing subsidies and sustainability loans will choose the least harmful materials during tiny forests, food forests, and collectively But every tonne of CO2 we continue to emit will that will ensure that the monthly costs remain contracting. managed parks and natural playgrounds. Sites cost us more in the future – as it contributes the same. Moreover, renovations to improve • Self-sufficient living arrangements, that have not been assigned a purpose will to the worsening of climate change – than any energy efficiency will fall under the lower VAT communities and ‘off-the-grid’ homes such be developed as bee and butterfly-friendly sustainability efforts we undertake now. At the rate. as Tiny Houses will be encouraged. Laws and meadows. same time, sustainable investments will pay for • Proper regulation, including fiscal regulations that discourage such sustainable • Municipalities will give support to residents’ themselves in the long term. That is why this will agreements, will be made for the generation initiatives will be amended accordingly.

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Education, science and culture Accessible, quality education is fundamental to a free, democratic society. Education could do a lot better than it is now. We currently have a severe shortage of teachers. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. The progression of students from secondary to tertiary education is stagnating. Students are burdened with sky-high debts from the ‘social loan system’ while their professional careers haven’t even begun yet. Special needs education has been stripped down to the bare bones. There is much damage to be repaired. The Party for the Animals believes that anyone who wants or feels the need to develop their talents should be able to do so for the rest of their lives. Our starting point is that you should be able to develop yourself to a level that fits you. That is a valuable right for every individual but also society at large.

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Sustainability, food, nature, environmental identify as LGBTIQA+ will become part of gardens will be amply facilitated. Extra funds increase, and considering the teacher shortage education and animal welfare are going to be the teacher training courses. Initiatives that will be made available for these activities. we’re currently facing, that is all the more reason pillars in our transition to a sustainable society. will make the education system LGBTIQA+- • Outdoor lessons will be encouraged because for heavy investments. The number of new These fields of expertise will, therefore, become friendlier will be supported. If schools fail studies have shown that such classes have a teaching staff choosing to leave the profession is an integral part of the lessons given at primary to do so, the schools inspectorate will get positive influence and promote exercise. The presently too high. That is a shame, considering and secondary school level. Ample attention involved. combination of natural daylight and fresh air the energy invested in their education, and it will be devoted to these areas during teacher • Schools will devote more attention to the also ensure that children can concentrate will be no longer be an issue if more time is training. We will also strive to improve language trans-Atlantic slave trade, our colonial history, better in class afterwards. made available for counselling and coaching. and math skills, freeing up time and space to and the history of labour migration to the • Free childcare for children up to the age of New teaching staff will, therefore, be intensively encourage reading for pleasure. Netherlands. four years for four days a week will become a guided by experienced teachers. • Freedom of education may not be used to part of the primary education offered by the The coronavirus crisis has had a profound impact discriminate. Declarations of intent to reject government. • To deal with the shortage of teachers, we will on our education system. We will remember homosexuality are unacceptable. Article 23 of • In additional to physical education, room will reduce the workload and raise the wages for the lessons we have learned, such as arranging the Constitution will be adapted. be provided throughout the entire educational teachers. distance learning opportunities and classroom • Information and teaching packages about system for the mental development of • The workload will not only be dealt with management. The importance of smaller classes sustainability, food, nature, environmental students, for example, by increasing through increased investments but in has become evident. The negative effects of education and animal welfare will be made compassion. particular by making teachers owners of the pandemic, such as the lack of social contact available for educational institutions. • Segregation in education will be combated. their work. The number of teaching hours or students falling behind, require a significant • Lesson material from the fossil fuel industry, Labels such as ‘black’ or ‘white’ school will no will be decreased to a maximum of 20 hours catch-up effort and extra investment. Adequate hunters, sector, the longer be used. Moreover, ways will be found per week, so teachers will have more time to health measures are also needed. Students bio-industry, or other potentially disruptive to educate children from diverse backgrounds organise their lessons. and teachers are entitled to a safe learning and sectors will be excluded. (such as in terms of migration and social- • The compensation in primary education working environment. • Producers of learning materials will present economic status) within the same classroom. will be brought in line with the wages in a representative reflection of the diversity secondary education and ESL teachers will • The arrears incurred in the learning process within our society in their educational material also be given a collective agreement. This will and other fields require extra investment. The for all subjects. Agreements will be made with Invest, invest, invest put an end to the wage gap. coronavirus crisis should not be allowed to publishers about this representation. Diversity • More facilities will be made available for the further increase differences in the student and inclusion should always be considered. The government must invest in teaching staff and coaching and counselling of new teachers. population. • 100% organic school canteens and lunch schools. The Party for the Animals believes that • Merging schools into factory-like institutions • The government will support the education meals will be implemented in educational money should be made available for lowering will no longer be acceptable. It will become sector in making in-person education institutions. Free lunch meal programmes the workload, the creation of extra development easier for schools to operate independently possible. Physical learning environments will will also be introduced. The rule will be that opportunities, and higher wages. Before the outside of the greater scope of a school be adapted to become corona-proof. The meat and other animal products become the coronavirus crisis, increased investments were district. educational institutions that are responsible exception and not the standard on the menu. required to reduce the workload and adjust class for this enormous task will be given an extra If you want to eat meat, you need to let your sizes to fit the type of education. That means in budget allowance to do so. The employees school know: Carnivore? Let us know! practice that a decrease in class size is more than Schools will not be measured by their will have the final say in this. • Primary and secondary schools will offer desirable. The school, in line with the coronavirus grades • Reading for pleasure will be encouraged lessons in digital literacy, where students will measures, will determine the class size. The by doing a better job of linking reading to learn how to use the Internet and other types board of representatives will be given right of The Party for the Animals wants education to be the students’ interests. Reading will also be of media. Learning to recognise fake news is approval, however. geared towards the development of cognitive encouraged by the presence of sufficient part of this programme. Philosophy will also skills, but also the development of all talents, local and public libraries. Instead of closing be taken up in the standard curriculum, and Truly investing in education also means that a including social, emotional, motor and creative libraries, we should be investing in them. more time will be made available for art and full-time position should have a maximum of 20 skills. These skills cannot be expressed in grades. • Schools will educate their students about drama. teaching hours. This reduction in hours will give sex, gender, and sexual diversity (hereafter • Activities such as school swimming lessons, teaching staff enough time to prepare and grade Schools should by definition not be focused on referred to as LGBTIQA+). The skills required sports lessons, cultural lessons (theatre, lessons and develop themselves professionally. output, standardisation, control, competition and to promote the acceptance of people who dance, music, painting etc.) and school As a result, the demand for teachers will only other business management models, but on the development of the individual student. That will

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require investments in the short term that will education, such as counselling for learning the loan system through a discount on student Accessible education is the only way of reducing benefit everyone in the long run. Moving up to difficulties and exceptionally intelligent loans, for example. the current disparity in our society. This applies the next level in education will be made easier students but also counselling with regards to to every type of school, but in particular to the instead of harder. social-emotional functioning. This will also be • The ‘social loan system’ will be abolished, and transition to other forms of education. Secondary incorporated into the curriculum for teacher the basic grant will return. Tuition fees will be education, including vocational training, is of • Teachers, students and parents will be given training courses. reduced significantly. vital importance to our society. This importance much more autonomy in defining school • Generous compensation measures will be has only increased now that the energy transition policy. implemented for the generation of ‘loan requires large investments. The great need for • Students will be given a say in the curriculum Lower the pressure on students system’ students. sustainable facilities alone is one example. But so that they can contribute to their lesson • Tuition fees will be the same for all students, such training courses do not always receive the programmes. The Party for the Animals wants students to be regardless of the number of earlier studies or recognition they deserve, while they are the • The standard required number of hours will be able to take their time to develop. However, the diplomas. A compensation arrangement will foundation of a sustainable society. The training eliminated, and schools can adapt the number pressures faced by students continue to grow. be set up for students who missed the boat and retraining of technical personnel in the fields of hours individually to meet exam standards. They need to learn faster, borrow more money with the new discount arrangement on tuition of sustainable energy, sustainable construction • Primary schools will be given the freedom to and find useful work experience to build up their fees for first-year students. and sustainable food are of critical importance. abandon the final exam if they can show that all CVs during their studies. The coronavirus crisis • Studies will be conducted into whether a By encouraging combined work and learning the conditions have been met in another way. has only increased these pressures. This means development budget for each Dutch citizen opportunities, new technical professionals will be that the prevention of psychological problems is is an appropriate potential application of immediately ready to join the workforce. essential. We need to actively work on changing the basic grant. Such a development budget Focus on inclusive education a culture where the taboos around psychological would give every Dutch citizen enough funds • Exemption from tuition fees in the first year of issues surrounding failure during studies need to to complete an academic education and MBO courses will help to reduce the scarcity The Party for the Animals wants smaller classes be addressed. could be used according to individual needs. in the workforce of qualified personnel in to be able to provide inclusive education that University students will have used up their specific fields (until the development budget meets everyone’s needs. We feel that it is a • An annual evaluation of student welfare will development budget by the time they receive has been implemented). duty to give students the attention they need to be conducted within the scope of prevention, their diploma. MBO (intermediate vocational • The moving up of MBO students to tertiary receive instruction in a place that fits in with their early signalling and breaking taboos. education) students can make use of the education will be improved through increased talents and possibilities. The output-oriented • Every student will be given direct and easy budget at a later point in time to follow any collaboration between HBO (higher vocational approach in education has played a role in the access to a study advisor, student dean or additional courses. education) and MBO institutions. fact that class sizes in schools have continued to confidential advisor. • We will work towards equal educational • The public transport pass for students will be grow. Budget cuts led to a further lack of focus • The number of student psychologists will be opportunities for everyone. This means that converted into a gift and will remain valid as on specific groups. The numerous regulations increased so that students can receive when developing such a development budget, long as the students receive financial aid. are part of the reason why our current system support in a timely fashion. we will first look at the budget for those who • Universities and institutions of higher of inclusive education doesn’t function properly. have not been able to make use of educational education will be further democratised: Children stay at home and become isolated opportunities up until now. students and teachers will be given more because of the cut-backs on inclusive education. The basic grant will return • Flexible studies will make it easier for students influence via the boards of representatives. This trend needs to be reversed, and studies to spend a year combining their studies with Administrators will be elected instead of need to be conducted into how inclusive The Party for the Animals has always resisted a management function or membership on a being appointed by the minister. education can be improved. the ‘social loan system’ that has been board, caring for others or other social work, • Opportunities will be made available for the implemented with the help of ‘progressive without losing their tuition fees for that year. accumulation of credits via volunteer work. • Increased investments will be made in parties.’ Increasing numbers of young people With the implementation of flexible studies, • An officially recognised course will be inclusive education, leading to more staff in are burdened with sky-high debts even before the interests of the students come first. developed for nature-inclusive agriculture. the classroom, smaller classes, more expertise their working life begins. Proper education in schools and more attention for individual is essential for society as a whole and should students. not be an individual’s obligation to make this Accessible education for everyone Education free of animal testing • Care teams at schools will be large enough. investment themselves. The Party for the They will have the expertise to deal with the Animals feels it is important to adequately Making education accessible for everyone is a The use of animals in secondary and tertiary diversity of subjects that come with bespoke compensate students who have fallen victim to core value. That value is now under pressure. education, in dissection classes, demonstrations

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and tests will be ended. In the meantime, the funded. Scientific articles and reports that accessible to every Dutch citizen. The neighbourhood, parents, cultural institutions, government will ensure the students’ right to have been funded by public money should also government will facilitate the provision of libraries, art centres, museums, clubs and refuse the exploitation of animals for educational be free and easily accessible. art and culture opportunities throughout the theatres come together. purposes. This includes secondary education. • A public register of the related activities of Netherlands, not just in the Randstad. • We will proactively seek out collaboration all researchers at universities and higher • The central government will encourage with various civic networks, councils and • An ongoing campaign will be introduced to vocational schools will be drawn up. The municipalities to make cultural participation a organisations in the cultural sector in make students and educational institutions ethics committees of educational institutions standard part of their welfare policy. At a local considering the challenges facing our society. aware of the rights of conscientious objection will monitor any conflicts of interest in level, well-distributed, accessible, affordable to animal testing and the available alternati- teaching staff, particularly concerning any and varied facilities will become available. ves. related commercial activities in the fiscal, • We will invest in the maintenance and Protect journalism • Students in medical and biomedical courses corporate or economic sciences. re-opening of free public libraries. The will be educated in and with alternative • Research and academic work that leads digitisation of the archives of cultural and Independent, pluriform journalism and media, methods to animal testing. to a change in economic thinking will be historical organisations will be encouraged. both locally and nationally, are essential for the encouraged. Projects that strive to promote • Visiting a museum should be financially proper functioning of a democratic society, not more plurality and diversity in economic accessible for all citizens. only in the Netherlands but also internationally. Scientific research as an independent, courses at university level will be supported. • In addition to pop music, other music The Party for the Animals, therefore, believes free sector genres should have unmitigated support. An that the media should be adequately supported equitable distribution of support is required and protected. The independence and quality of scientific Make art, culture and heritage accessible across the various music genres. This includes research will be protected and expanded. Science to everyone a proper podium policy, room for all music • Old and new media forms can draw on the may not become subject to market regulations genres within the Council for Culture and media stimulus funds. or profitability considerations. To increase the Creativity and freedom of expression are core the Podium Arts Fund, attention for the • No further cutbacks will be made on public quality and impartiality of scientific research, a values for an open society. Art and culture income position of musical artists and, in and regional media channels. larger portion of this research will be financed form an unmistakable foundation for a free life collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, via stable, long-term financial frameworks. The in which new avenues can be explored and efficient support for the export of the Dutch pressure on universities and higher vocational where people can develop themselves to the music sector. schools to produce has also become too great. fullest. Art and culture give rise to reflection • Copyright law and copyright contract law The government budget for first and second-flow and emotion; they move us and shake us. Art will be modernised to strengthen the position research funding will, therefore, be increased on encourages people to think outside the box. Art of authors and artists. Platforms that make a structural basis, giving not only professors but and culture give new meaning to society, and so money off the provision of films and music also researchers and graduate students enough also to our economy. They point the way to the will pay out part of their profits to the entitled time to complete their work. transformation, change and innovation society authors and artists. needs to survive. We expressly want to involve • The central government will promote the re- • The government will invest extra money in the cultural sector in societal issues. For this assignation of monuments and will encourage fundamental research. Financing via second reason, we will strive to restore the heart of a municipalities to draw up cultural-historical and third-flow funding will be reduced. free society: a flourishing art and cultural sector. and archaeological value maps. Historically Matching requirements for research from During the coronavirus crisis, the wrong choices valuable buildings will not be demolished but commercial clients will be limited. have been made. Fossil fuel-driven companies will be renovated in a nature-inclusive manner. • Stricter impartiality conditions will be should not be the recipient of billions of euros; • The government will promote the restoration implemented for the appointment of special that money should go to the arts and culture of cultural landscapes, such as the renovation chairs that are financed by commercial sector. The harsh cut-backs in recent years or implementation of field margins and institutions or civil organisations and and the coronavirus crisis have jeopardised the wooded banks via a generous support foundations. survival and accessibility of art, culture and programme. • Scientific research should be publicly financed heritage, and this urgently has to be righted. • Culture and music education will be given and must therefore be made more accessible a permanent place in primary, secondary to the public. The Open Access and Open • The budget for art, culture and heritage and intermediate vocational curriculums. Science movements will be supported and will be increased to make art and culture Schools will become a place where the

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Concept

With a government that listens

to people, rather than listens in on people The Party for the Animals stands for a society where everyone can live freely, as long as that freedom does not come at the expense of others. Equal treatment is a constitutional right and a condition for a society where everyone feels at home. Regardless of ethnic background, nationality, social status, religion, belief, gender, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, mental and physical acuity or disabilities, and health: we are all equal. The government must deal harshly with discrimination and exclusion. Democratic freedom of speech and an open justice system are essential foundations for a free society.

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Unfortunately, freedom and equality are not a Racism and discrimination and we will find other self-critical ways to deal • Violence against LGBTIQA+ groups will be matter of course. Article 1 of the Constitution – with this heritage using democratic means. centrally registered. We will make sure that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law – only The government needs to be inclusive and Sinterklaas (the traditional Dutch celebration reporting any form of discrimination will be achieves meaning once the government acts committed. Although many people don’t of Saint Nicholas) will be a fun event for all facilitated, and that the willingness of victims accordingly. It is a battle that has been raging for discriminate consciously, racism and other children: Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) will be to report these incidents will increase. centuries, and one that sadly enough continues forms of discrimination continue to exist both banned and replaced by ‘sooty’ Pieten, for • The civil status of an individual will be to be fought to this day. The government keeps directly, in visible ways, and indirectly, woven example. Our colonial past will be given a considered a matter of privacy and can only dropping the ball and then places it in the into our systems and structures. The heating permanent place in school lessons. be specifically requested when there is a legal hands of the public. At the same time, an ever- up of the current societal debate is a logical • The government will act decisively against any obligation to do so. growing movement exposes the areas where consequence of our continued inactivity. It is form of discrimination and will come up with discrimination and racism are rooted in our time for self-reflection and decisive action from a plan to ban constitutional racism. A national society. We need to face these issues and resolve the government. They are no longer allowed to coordinator for racism and discrimination A rule of law that protects society them, and the government needs to lead the way. watch from the side lines. will take the lead and ensure more inclusivity The Party for the Animals stands for an inclusive within the government. The civil service The rule of law exists to protect citizens, from society where everyone is equal, is given equal • The government will treat all citizens will become a balanced reflection of the criminal activities and powerful companies, but opportunities, and where no one needs to feel equally. In the past, ethnic profiling has led population’s demographic profile. also from the government. That is why the justice left out. to stigmatisation and other serious issues • In teacher training courses, attention will system remains accessible to everyone. The rule for individuals. Therefore, ethnicity and be given to combating discrimination and of law is not only there for individual citizens, but Everyone deserves the same opportunities. Our nationality should under no circumstance promoting equal opportunity. also for animals, nature, society as a whole and rule of law exists to make sure that all citizens play a role in selection decisions and risk • Machine-learning systems in which computers future generations. are treated fairly and equally and to protect profiles. Ethnic profiling by the police will make decisions about people without society from other interests. We saw this during also be combated through a registration human interference will be subject to strong • Legal professionals serving the public the Urgenda Climate Case when the judge ruled system where the reason someone is taken ethical and privacy monitoring restrictions. should be given sufficient time and due that the Netherlands was obligated to meet its into custody will be registered. Preventive Monitoring to make sure that these systems compensation so that everyone is guaranteed climate goals for 2020. The rule of law is a major searches promote ethnic profiling and do not unconsciously make discriminatory proper legal representation. public good, and it should remain accessible stigmatisation and so will no longer be decisions will also be implemented. The • A fear of sky-high fees should no longer for everyone. Until now, we have seen that the allowed. government will not use any black-box discourage citizens with meagre means from government is becoming less and less involved, • Background, sexual orientation, gender algorithms. asking a judge to rule on an issue. To facilitate as they assume that citizens can figure it out for identity, religious beliefs or skin colour should • People with a disability should be allowed this, we will lower the standard registry fees themselves, and we have seen cutbacks in our not pose a barrier to any individual for finding to function fully in society. Access to and offer improved legal counsel for people judicial system. This needs to be reversed. The a traineeship, job or home. People with a government buildings and public facilities – with a limited income. government should protect the public interest. disability also have the right to a sustainable including educational and public institutions • The financial issues in the administration of career and fair compensation. Clear as well as public transport – will be a matter law will be resolved, and we will reverse any Digitalisation has given rise to new opportunities, regulations and strict enforcement will ensure of course for every individual. Ableism will be implemented cutbacks. but also threats. We can use the time freed up that discrimination in the labour and housing considered a serious form of discrimination. • The environment always loses out when by automation to make time for each other, market is dealt with. • All couples will be given the same rights confronted with short-term interests. Nature for sustainability and for meaningful work. We • Everyone has the right to an anonymous as heterosexual couples. Other forms of reserves should be granted rights so that the can share knowledge from all over the world job application. The motivation and the parentage will be legally recognised and with long-term interests of our environment are with each other to help facilitate sustainable qualities of a candidate should become the the same rights. also taken into consideration. transitions. If we are not careful, however, guiding principle for inviting job applicants, • The government will execute a strong • A fine is not experienced as a punishment the adverse effects are equally great. Large- and discrimination based on characteristics LGBTIQA+ emancipation policy and will invest by everyone: someone on social security will scale data collection by multi-nationals and such as ethnicity should be prevented. Every in LGBTQIA+ emancipation programmes in feel its effects far more than a bank manager. governments is putting the privacy of private job applicant has the right to a fair and our education system. LGBTIQA+ students Fines will, therefore, become income- individuals on the line. The Party for the Animals transparent process and job interview, in and teachers will be welcome at every school. dependent. stands for a society where the right to privacy which the interests of the employer founded • We will abolish the official gender registration • We are going to increase controls on large and self-development is respected. on generalisations and assumptions should register. Until then, anyone who wishes to be companies on the violation of human not be the foremost consideration. officially registered under a different gender rights, the destruction of nature and the • Disputed cultural heritage will be identified, identity will easily be able to do so. environment, money laundering practices,

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and other types of fraud. Proportional • The childcare benefit scandal has shown responsibilities have increasingly been • People should have a greater say in their punishments will be implemented for these how negatively people can be affected held at arms’ length and have been partly immediate living environment. That is why we infringements. by the government. All the victims will be removed from the democratic control and will strengthen the authority of district and • The use and production of soft drugs will be immediately and generously compensated so decision-making process of elected public neighbourhood associations, which will be legalised, making the cultivation of soft drugs that justice will be done for the damage that representatives. The Common Regulations actively involved in decisions concerning their legal and its products subject to excise duties. the victims have suffered. Besides the costs Act will be renewed to strengthen the neighbourhood. Neighbourhood associations, • We will not expand the authority of the for legal counsel, the loss of jobs, housing and right to amendment and the budgetary following British custom, will be given more various law enforcement and security services income and immaterial damages should also rights of public representatives, making rights to determine the function of public without intervention from a judge. be considered. it a compulsory element of collaborations buildings. • Small police stations will be re-opened, • The inspection, reinforcement of and between municipalities, provinces and water • Water board administrators will continue to and we will invest further in neighbourhood compensation for damages made to houses in boards. The Safety Risks Act will be amended be elected directly instead of indirectly via police. Because police officers who are Groningen will be given priority. so municipal councils are better equipped to municipal councils. Water board seats will no familiar with the neighbourhood can intervene • The government will extend its apologies for carry out their monitoring tasks. longer be reserved. when people are at risk of going astray, the way the Q fever epidemic in 2007 was thereby acting preventively against criminal treated. It will accept the responsibility of activities. failing to take adequate preventive measures Democratic renewal The monarchy • Police officers have an enormous societal and will generously compensate for any responsibility coupled with a heavy workload, damages incurred by victims. Our democracy is precious. We are all Our democracy is precious. We are all irregular hours and unexpected and • Government communications will become responsible for maintaining that democracy. responsible for maintaining that democracy. sometimes dangerous situations. Hence, they more straightforward, more transparent and Nonetheless, many people feel that they are not Nonetheless, many people feel that they are not deserve an increase in wages. faster. heard by the political establishment, and that’s heard by the political establishment, and that’s • Physical injury caused by the application of • A public lobby register will be made available an issue we need to address. Forms of direct an issue we need to address. Forms of direct violence by the police should be prevented at all levels of governance and public democracy will be given more prominence, and democracy will be given more prominence, and wherever possible. The neck hold will be representation. Government documents such people will have a greater say in their immediate people will have a greater say in their immediate forbidden, and the police will not have as legislative proposals and policy measures living environment. living environment. electroshock weapons at their disposal. Special will report how much influence lobbies have investigating officers (BOAs) will not be armed. had on the proposals. An independent body • Our political system makes choices that • The king and his family will pay taxes just will monitor the integrity of lobbyists and have a significant impact on the future of like everyone else, and we will take a critical politicians. our youth. The voting age will, therefore, be look at other financial concessions and Honest and effective governance • Whistle-blowers are a vital source for the lowered to 16 years of age. compensations. The personal income of the tracking down of wrong-doing in companies • Initiating a public initiative will be made members of the royal family will fall under The government systematically fails to protect and organisations, including government easier. the Top Incomes Standardisation Act (Wet its citizens as long as it continues to put organisations, and will therefore be • The advisory referendum will be reintroduced normering topinkomens). other interests first. We see this, for example, adequately protected. Foreign whistle- and will be given a role in important decisions. • The costs of the royal family will become when our health is at risk from the disposal of blowers who expose the wrong-doings of a • We will implement a binding corrective transparent. hazardous chemical waste in our environment. country will not be extradited. referendum for far-reaching decisions that • The Royal Hunting Department will be The enormous delays in the compensation for • The tasks and responsibilities of the threaten our democracy, for example. abolished. Royal domain Het Loo will be open damages incurred by earthquakes in Groningen national government will only be transferred • Citizens’ panels will be implemented where, year-round to the general public and hunting is positively shameful. The recent childcare to provincial or municipal governance through a drawing of lots, a cross-section of will not be allowed on its premises. benefit scandal has clearly shown that we have under strict conditions. The task should the Dutch population will have a serious say • The king will no longer be chairman of the created a bureaucratic monster that is destroying be appropriate for the down-scaling of in important national issues, as an addition to Council of State. He no longer will play a people’s lives. Our retreating government is governance, and the governments that and enrichment of the current parliamentary political role in the cabinet formation. leaving people in the lurch, and public trust in will take over this additional task must be democracy. our government is waning. Which makes sense; adequately equipped to do so. • Small-scale demonstrations will no longer a government needs to earn the people’s trust. • Administrators in public and semi-public need to be registered. For demonstrations The right to adequate information That is why we will ensure that the government institutions should not earn more than the resulting from current events, the advance will put the interests of its citizens first. prime minister. notice requirement will be reduced. Digitalisation has a lot to offer us. We can • Over the course of time, government

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easily stay in touch with each other, work of the public will no longer be impeded Identity fraud lies just around the corner, and • The Netherlands will protect personal more efficiently, and we have an unbelievably but will be aided in their monitoring of multinationals will do anything to influence our information at the highest level. The large source of information at our fingertips. governance. The law on public administration opinions and our purchasing behaviour. Our government will make structural investments Unfortunately, fake news and algorithms that (Wob) will be adjusted so that information personal living environment makes us who we are in software projects to improve the security provide people with misleading information will quickly be made accessible and that the and is a basic human right. Even if you think you of the digital infrastructure. The Dutch Data are examples of the increasingly negative number of grounds for exemption from the have nothing to hide, your details can fall into the Protection Authority will be expanded to consequences of digitalisation. It is in these times sharing of data will be limited. wrong hands if we’re not careful. monitor GDPR (General Data Protection when fake information is so readily available, • Independent investigative journalism is a Regulation) compliance. that we need to support independent and critical necessary check on the balance of power. No • Large internet companies will be forced to journalism. Fake news and the monopolisation further cutbacks will be implemented on the provide more transparency into the storage of a few large digital players can pose a threat basic structure of public media channels at and use of data and into how their algorithms Violating privacy in the name of a false to the functioning of our democracy. Citizens a local and national level: regional media will work. We will limit how our data is used, sense of security should be able to defend themselves against be given a realistic budget for news, research, and we will prohibit the sale of data without misleading information. Based on clicking and preserving the regional identity. express permission. Dutch data will be The government gladly makes use of the behaviour, large online platforms determine what • We will modernise copyright laws so stored whenever possible in data centres in available possibilities to monitor citizens in the users get to see, and that leads to a one-sided that it dovetails with the digitalisation of the Netherlands so that they don’t fall under name of security measures and efficiency. We representation of information that is becoming information. It is key that authors and artists American or Chinese jurisdiction. need to be very cautious about these practices. increasingly inaccurate. are given due compensation. • The collection of data may only take place if Security cannot be achieved through a violation • The safety of international journalists is under express permission has been given to do so, of constitutional rights. We will make sure that • We will research how we can give internet pressure. The Netherlands will continue after a brief, easy-to-read explanation to the our data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands or end giants greater responsibility in combating to provide vocal support for international user about how the data will be used. Refusal up being used against us. fake news without giving them too much journalism and will offer emergency aid to is always an option. power over the content that is shared on journalists where required. • Students will be allowed to refuse the • Systems that cannot guarantee the privacy of digital platforms. In any case, we will ensure • Citizens who are not able to process the installation of proctoring software on their data will be removed or adjusted, such as the that internet companies such as Facebook digital materials provided by the government computers for their exams. Educational national electronic health records. Medical and Google provide greater transparency into can request in-person information at a institutions will be assisted in the organisation records will not be made available to others what they show their users and why. We will physical location in their municipality. of secure exams so that proctoring software without express permission. also curb microtargeting practices through Communications by post will continue to be will no longer be needed and potential fraud • Only when there is a question of concrete which highly specific advertising is aimed at an option. is kept to a minimum. Proctoring software suspicion after evaluation by a judge will the user. for employees working from home will be police, legal and intelligence services be • Open source projects offer ample opportunity prohibited. able to request information about private for sharing knowledge and information. By Privacy is safety • Citizens have a right to a free Internet without individuals from businesses. Members of the sharing technological solutions, for example, filters, barriers or the passing on of details by public will be given greater insight into the other countries, entrepreneurs and individuals Privacy is invaluable in a free society. Privacy is providers. details that have been stored about them can build on and develop existing knowledge. the only way that we can live a free life without • Banking and payment details from private and can have themselves removed from The government will encourage and, wherever the interventions of others and the government. individuals are confidential. Therefore, third data systems more quickly (the right to be possible, make use of open standards, open- The rise of new techniques poses a threat to our parties should not be allowed to view bank forgotten). source software and open hardware. privacy. The collection of DNA, the installation account details without explicit permission. • Investigative organisations will not be allowed • Citizens will be provided with accurate and of increasing numbers of cameras, and the The ‘third-party access to current accounts’ to sniff around in computers without a detailed information about government digitisation of sensitive dossiers involve a certain clause in the new Revised Payment Services legitimate, legally sanctioned reason. Stricter services and companies who spend public measure of risk. But perhaps the most worrying Directive (PSD2) will be removed. standards will be implemented for the tapping funds. The government will be open about development has been the increasing power of a • The implementation of camera surveillance of phones. Communication secrecy will be how policy is generated. The government will few gigantic internet companies who collect and is only permitted temporarily, and only in risk respected and protected. be held accountable to the constitution and sell our data. Facebook and Google are turning areas assigned by a judge. Cameras using • Any policy with regards to the tapping, may not withhold information from public a profit from the sale of our most private details, facial recognition software will not be allowed collection and storage of citizen data will representatives. without us having any say about it and without in public areas, shops and eating and drinking be critically re-assessed in the interests of • Investigative journalists and critical members any measure of control from the government. establishments. privacy.

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• The privacy and data of users are not secure with many Internet of Things appliances that use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections. The government will strive to realise a set of cybersecurity requirements for these types of devices. • Despite a resounding ‘No’ from the Netherlands during the referendum, the new ‘Trawling law’ for the large-scale collection of data was put into force. This law will be revoked and will be replaced by a new privacy-friendly Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv). We will also discontinue the implementation of the proposed ‘Super Syri’ act (WGS) for the mass collection, linking and analysis of data by the government. • We will proceed with extreme caution with data experiments in the public sphere. • China and the United States rule the digital world. We remain highly critical of foreign influences on technology and the Internet. We will implement a substantial task force for the tracing and combating of espionage activities. The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) will exercise extreme caution when sharing citizen data with foreign intelligence services

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The Earth offers enough to satisfy everyone’s needs but not everyone’s greed Everyone requires a safe, healthy and stable living environment. Those are universal needs, regardless of where you call home. But currently, the fulfilment of those needs is a long way off for many people. Some areas are rendered uninhabitable through climate change, while the loss of biodiversity threatens food security in other areas. Pollution destroys the local living environments, and the lives of many people are no longer safe because of armed conflict. These problems are often related. They are often at the root of why people are forced to flee from their homeland. The Party for the Animals chooses international collaboration with people all over the world who are committed to creating a liveable Earth.

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The Party for the Animals is firmly committed influence on the decisions made at the EU level, the climate and biodiversity crisis instead. definitively changed, led by the efforts of the Party to creating a liveable planet and to the equal while those same decisions can severely limit the Moreover, these funds should not lead to a for the Animals. For the first time in history, the distribution of the resources our planet has policy-making freedom of member states. situation whereby member states collectively majority of the House of Representatives, thanks to offer. If the entire world lived as we do in bear the burden of other member states. to the Party for the Animals, voted against an EU- the Netherlands, we would need three Earths Even the has too few • Courts of audit at a national and European ratified free trade agreement: the EU-Mercosur to sustain us. We are using more than our fair options to keep the European Commission level will play a critical role in monitoring agreement with the South American countries of share of natural resources. That is unsustainable in check. It is not allowed to implement European funds and emergency funds. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. for our planet and unfair to our fellow humans. its own laws, something that our House of • The European Central Bank (ECB) will stop Therefore, we cannot view the choices we make Representatives does have the authority to do. the indiscriminate, large-scale purchase of Where the majority of Dutch politicians used to in Europe and the Netherlands independently of We should no longer transfer control to the obligations and other debt securities. applaud the ratification of new trade agreements the problems that people in other countries face. European Commission, but reinforce the role • The ECB will be fundamentally reformed and over the past few decades, this time, the of the European Parliament with regards to brought under parliamentary control. This sentiment was different. In both the House of the European Commission. The Party for the way, accountability can take place for the Representatives and Dutch society at large, the A better Europe Animals calls for an end to the growing sphere of redistributive effects of ECB policy. Internal realisation has grown that free trade agreements influence (the European Commission continues minutes will be made public, and it will be only benefit a handful of large multinationals, The Party for the Animals wants a democratic to amass power) and the expansion (more possible for national member states to hold while vulnerable values are the first to fall by the (EU) that puts the protection countries are being admitted) of the EU. ECB administrators to account. wayside in these types of deals. of vulnerable values first. As a collaborative In an EU that puts vulnerable values first, climate • Scenarios will be drawn up where countries platform, the EU is in a position to solve cross- justice, regionalisation of agriculture and can leave the eurozone should a new Resistance to these types of arrangements border issues. At the moment, the EU is still production, fair trade, reducing the ecological euro crisis arise so the EU will not have to has also grown significantly in the rest of the too focused on the promotion of global free footprint, animal rights, democratic control and implement desperate measures whatever world in recent years. Farmers, researchers and trade and protecting the interests of large transparency will become guiding principles the cost to save the euro in its current state. environmental activists have joined forces. They corporations. In this EU, vulnerable values usually instead of afterthoughts. The EU will no longer The EU will give members of the eurozone have proved an increasingly vocal and effective lose out against the interests of big money. lend an ear to large corporations but will use its the opportunity to develop plans for parallel force against these disruptive trade agreements. Through free trade agreements, agricultural authority to make sure that these corporations currencies. When a member state decides And the world is a better place for it. Global free subsidies and the promotion of the burning serve humans and animals alike. to leave the EU or the eurozone, this will be trade, primarily in agricultural products such as of biofuels, the EU is one of the driving forces facilitated by the EU. soybeans for animal feed, meat and palm oil, has behind the climate and biodiversity crisis. Our • Subsidies from the Common Agricultural • The remuneration of European funds such led to enormous problems for the climate and western addiction to animal proteins – promoted Policy will be abolished. The funds that as structural funds can be deferred or ended biodiversity. Examples include the deforestation through European subsidies even today – causes will become available as a result will be completely if the rule of law in a member and desertification of vulnerable nature areas us to import animal feed on a large scale from implemented for the necessary transition to state is at stake. Countries such as Hungary such as the Amazon, Cerrado (Brazil) and the other countries at the expense of the climate, eco- and animal-friendly agriculture. and Poland will no longer be able to rely rainforests in South-East Asia. humans, animals and nature. • Funds from the coronavirus recovery fund on taxpayers’ money, including that of the and future emergency funds will not be Netherlands, if they undermine the rule of law The coronavirus crisis has made it abundantly The European decision-making process needs to used to support activities in sectors that are and violate the rights of their residents. clear: it is in our best interests to leave primaeval be democratic and transparent. At the moment, responsible for the climate and biodiversity • No new competencies will be deferred to the forests and rainforests alone. Economic activities this decision-making process far too often takes crisis, such as the bio- and fossil fuel industry. EU. There will be no European Minister of in vulnerable natural areas result in increased place in back rooms. Rigid legislative processes • The EU and the eurozone will not be expanded Finance, no European army and no European contact between humans and animals living in that are incomprehensible to the public and the further. pension fund. These types of fundamental the wild. Such practices rapidly increase the enormous influence of lobbyists have ensured • The European multi-annual budget will not competencies should remain with national risk of the spread of viruses and bacteria from that, over the past few decades, the EU has increase, and at least half of the funds will be parliaments. animals to humans, which in turn increase the degenerated into a hard-to-control lobby-ocracy. used to benefit the climate, nature and the dangers of the development of new zoonoses. The fossil fuel industry, the agricultural sector environment. A zoonotic pandemic, as everyone has been able and manufacturers of pesticides have far too • The communal recovery funds are currently Growing resistance against free trade to experience, has disastrous consequences for many fingers in the Brussels pie, with the result almost entirely geared towards a return to agreements public health, mental health, human interaction, that the EU gives these sectors too much leeway. business as usual in a fossil-fuelled economy. culture and the economy. Keeping our hands off National parliaments have a hard time exerting Recovery funds should be used to help combat The way we think about free trade agreements has our rainforests is has literally become a matter of life and death for humankind.

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The EU is currently involved in free trade • The EU will immediately stop negotiations considerations to the courts. no more than greenwashing and will therefore negotiations with several countries, including with China concerning an investment treaty. • The Netherlands will refuse products that are be abolished. This will be replaced by binding the United States, Australia, Thailand and produced at the expense of humans, animals agreements that prioritise the health of the Indonesia. The Party for the Animals wants these or the environment and will commit itself in planet. negotiations to stop, as well as negotiations for Stop the export of a failed agricultural Brussels to making sure that other member treaties that serve to protect investments. This system states will do the same with each other’s protection ensures that multinationals receive products. One example is force-fed goose and Reinforcing development cooperation additional legal protection in addition to the The Party for the Animals wants the Dutch duck liver, or foie gras, from , , rights they already have. Under the threat of government to spearhead a radical reassessment Bulgaria and Hungary. The amount that is spent by the western world on claims, these multinationals can influence the of its trade policy. The trade policy will fully • Animal transport within Europe will be development cooperation will never compensate policy of governments, including the Dutch serve the promotion and protection of vulnerable severely restricted. Animal transport will last for the damage the West has done to these government, in their favour. This is a substantial values instead of the suppression of these values, no longer than two hours. Animals may not be countries. Even today, the economic choices barrier for an ambitious climate policy and a as is the case now. transported on warm days. Transporting live made in the West lead to significant problems threat to the democratic rule of law. animals to countries outside the EU will no in other countries, particularly countries in the The Party for the Animals wants the Netherlands longer be allowed. southern hemisphere. The Party for the Animals wants climate, to stop exporting the livestock industry. During • The Netherlands will stop the implementation biodiversity, public health, human and animal the trade missions that are organised every and facilitation of the livestock industry The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population rights and regional agriculture to be the guiding year, representatives from the livestock industry abroad, such as was the case in, for example, produces as much CO2 as the poorest 50% of principles of trade policy, not the short-term travel in the wake of our king and queen to Ukraine, China, and Russia. The export of the world, while it is this segment of the world’s interests of multinationals and the agricultural force our completely failed agricultural model breeding animals or stable systems for the population that is hit first and hardest by climate industry. We will choose to take the side of on other countries. Dutch manufacturers of development of the bio-industry in other change. For decades, countries abroad were environmental and human rights protectors stable and slaughter systems sell their morbid countries will no longer be permitted. exploited as producers of raw materials such around the world. We have listened closely to trade to countries elsewhere, knowing full • The export of industrial livestock systems that as ores, soybeans for animal feed and palm oil, the distress calls from activists in countries such well that the livestock industry in our own are no longer permitted in the Netherlands while western companies pocketed the profits as Canada, Indonesia and China to stop free country is responsible for enormous animal will be banned in any case. Pesticides and at the expense of the environment and the trade and investment agreements that come at welfare and environmental problems. Flowers other chemicals that are forbidden in the population elsewhere. Our colonial history and the expense of local communities, human rights, and bulbs, cultivated with highly hazardous Netherlands will no longer be exported. the slave trade have left deep scars even today. nature and animal welfare. Now is the time for a pesticides detrimental to humans, animals, and • The Minister of Agriculture will no longer cabinet that will do the same. the natural environment, are promoted abroad participate in trade missions. This restriction Development cooperation will therefore start with the help of the Dutch government. Special will also apply to representatives from the with putting an end to the damage that we inflict • The Netherlands will permanently retract agriculture-oriented diplomats, the so-called livestock industry. The Netherlands will on people and ecosystems elsewhere. Moreover, its support for treaties with other countries, Agriculture Councils, are paid with Dutch immediately halt the export of the bio- the Party for the Animals wants to get rid of the including the United States, Mercosur, taxpayers’ money to do nothing other than lobby industry to other countries. All current ‘aid-for-trade’ doctrine that has in recent years Canada (CETA), Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, the private interests of the Dutch agricultural budgets for the promotion of exports will be been the hallmark of Dutch developmental Australia and New Zealand. industry abroad. Animals are shipped off on long eliminated. The Agriculture Councils will be aid policy. A Minister of Development • Any free trade agreements entered into by the transport journeys, often to countries far from abolished. Cooperation needs to be reinstated to achieve EU must be approved by all member states, the EU. That must stop. • Businesses from sectors that inflict this. The starting principle of both trade and and agricultural and investment protection irreversible damage on ecosystems and the developmental aid policy will be a strong interests should under no circumstance be a • Products that are imported into the living environment of humans and animals regionalisation of products and services. part of that agreement. Ultimately, the Dutch Netherlands or the EU must at least meet elsewhere in the world, such as the oil and gas public is given the final say through a binding the same environmental and animal welfare industry, will be excluded from trade missions. The Party for the Animals wants extra attention corrective referendum. conditions as products that are produced • The Netherlands will cease all involvement to be given to the position of girls and women. • Treaties that include investment protection here. If that is not possible within the with and financing of consultative bodies in They currently live their lives in the service of measures, such as ICS or ISDS, will be regulations of the World Trade Organisation which multinationals have a large say in policy others: husbands, large families, their children, revoked by the Netherlands. Examples of such (WTO), the Netherlands and the EU will regarding the import of resources such as or their household. They will have greater control treaties include CETA and the Energy Charter ignore these regulations. The Netherlands soybeans and palm oil. The round tables for of their lives if they are given more prospects Treaty (ECT). and the EU will not be afraid of bringing such ‘sustainable’ soybeans and palm oil are simply and freedom of choice. We can facilitate this

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through increased access to quality education, West in order to strengthen their economies, creation of prospects for people living in to know each other, experience has shown that powerful local communities, and reinforcement no retaliatory measures will be taken. The refugee camps. The Netherlands will provide we are often understanding and helpful to the of the rights of women and girls. This will provide Netherlands will help developing countries money and knowledge to that end. refugees that we have taken in. Therefore, the more opportunities and a better life for women to process their locally produced products so • Refugees will be equitably divided across Party for the Animals wants a humane reception on a small scale. On a large scale, it will lead to that they can create their own added value Europe. The UN Human Rights Commission with proper guidance and prompt clarity about a decrease in the birth rate as women and girls instead of exporting their resources. (UNHCR) quotas will be increased. the status of an asylum request. As soon as are finally put in a position where they can make • Tax legislation and tax treaties will be adjusted • People in refugee camps have the right to live people are given a residence permit, they should their own decisions. The trade in resources such in such a way that developing countries no a dignified existence. This means they have a be able to function in our society as quickly and as palm oil, soybeans and ores disrupt local longer miss out on billions of dollars in income right to security, enough food and drink, legal comprehensively as possible. communities where women and girls often bear through tax evasion by multinationals. The counselling, medical care and decent housing. the brunt of such developments. We will stop Netherlands will also no longer be a tax haven • NGOs and other humanitarian organisations • The Netherlands will follow UN refugee treaty this neoliberal trade policy and help people for shell corporations. may organise rescue activities at sea without guidelines and will therefore not return people in vulnerable areas to develop a sustainable being stopped or fined. After a rescue at sea, to their country of origin if they have been economy that will benefit them. people will be brought to locations where or will be persecuted because of their sexual Helping people by tackling the root causes they can request asylum. orientation, religion, political beliefs or ethnic • A separate Minister for Developmental • The EU will cease to train and finance the background. Cooperation will be appointed. Many people in other parts of the world lack Libyan coastguard. This group has been • People who request a residence permit in the • At least 1% of our gross national income (GNI) prospects for the future and a secure livelihood. accused of severe human rights violations. Netherlands will quickly receive a carefully will be spent on developmental cooperation. If The climate crisis and biodiversity crisis has • The European border guard agency considered decision about their right of the GNI decreases, no cutbacks will be made not only ensured that areas have become Frontex must be replaced by humanitarian residence. The wait times at the IND (Dutch on developmental cooperation. Should the uninhabitable and that food security is under missions that are aimed to help people in Immigration and Naturalisation Service) will GNI decrease, the budget for developmental threat, but they have become a source of need. Charges of violation of international be shortened considerably. cooperation will automatically exceed 1% of conflict, in some cases armed conflict. When treaties and maritime law by Frontex will be • The rights of children, as established in the GNI. people are threatened by war, when land investigated. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child • Developmental cooperation will be geared becomes arid or when there is not enough water (UNCRC, IVRK in Dutch) will be set down in towards the interests of people and not to drink, people flee. The Party for the Animals the Aliens Act. Children who have established towards the interests of Dutch businesses. wants to tackle these root causes so that people Invest in shelters in the Netherlands their roots in the Netherlands will not be The position of the more vulnerable are no longer forced to flee their homes. deported and will be given a residence permit. population groups will be reinforced, in A small portion of the people who flee from • We will put a stop to boredom and lack of particular the position of women and girls. Ultimately, a large proportion of the refugees their homes come to the Netherlands. Besides prospects in refugee centres. From now • Within the scope of climate justice, the do not end up in the Netherlands or Europe. 85 removing the root causes of migration, the Party on, people staying in refugee centres may Netherlands will pay its fair share of to 90% of refugees find shelter elsewhere in the for the Animals wants to invest in the reception work on their personal development and climate financing in addition to the existing region, usually in wretched living conditions. and integration of refugees in the Netherlands are entitled to proper counselling, language contribution to developmental cooperation. Humanitarian aid must be focused on two pillars: and invest in the acceptance of newcomers by courses, healthcare and education in the case • Funds for developmental cooperation will be the improvement of living conditions in the the Dutch population. of minors. In addition, more attention will be used to offer prospects for people in other immediate area and the creation of prospects for given to psychological counselling, because parts of the world, not for a migration and these people. It is in almost every human being’s nature to refugees often have had a rough journey and asylum policy. help others in need, but we see that this natural perhaps suffer from trauma from experiences • Developmental aid funds will be used to • International treaties such as the Geneva tendency is being put to the test. Many people in the area from which they have fled. develop a regional and sustainable economy Refugee Convention and the European feel intimidated by the large number of people • The accommodation of people with a and agricultural system. Developmental Convention on Human Rights should be who come to our country and lay claim to Dutch residency permit will be done with care: cooperation will not be used to develop guiding decisions regarding this aid. The services and the few homes that are available. we will ensure equal distribution across livestock industries abroad. Netherlands will not agree to agreements, That is understandable because many young municipalities and, where possible, at a • Developing countries will have a greater say such as the Turkey deal, that violate these people, students, and families have trouble district level. Moreover, we will focus on in the policies of the International Monetary treaties. finding a suitable home. That is why we need to developing small-scale communities where, Fund and the World Bank. • The Netherlands will contribute to the build more homes, and why taking in refugees for example, students and newcomers • If developing countries decide to temporarily improvement of living conditions and the needs to be done with care. Once people get can share living accommodations, and protect their markets from imports from the

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projects in which refugees with a certain True peace and security against the use of land mines and cluster professional background are linked to munition and for the worldwide regulation of potential local employers. We will ensure Western governments, including the the arms industry. that there is sufficient counselling so that Netherlands, need to start focusing on • The Netherlands will sign the UN treaty it leads to improved integration and mutual removing potential sources of conflict. The banning nuclear weapons. Any nuclear understanding in the neighbourhood. Party for the Animals wants the Netherlands weapons will be removed from the Municipalities should be facilitated to take the to stop supporting combat missions. Western Netherlands immediately. The Netherlands lead as much as possible. bombardments and military involvement in will work together with other countries to conflicts such as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya implement a universal ban on the use of haven’t made the world a safer place. Instead, nuclear weapons. No trade in conflict resources millions of people were forced to flee, and the • The Netherlands will take the lead in the threat of terrorism is a shadow that continues to development of an international legal The Party for the Animals wants the Netherlands loom over us. The Party for the Animals believes framework for the use of armed drones and to adopt severe restrictions on the import of that combat missions and bombardments will unmanned aircraft. resources where the exploitation or production never lead to lasting peace and that military • During international humanitarian aid thereof is hazardous to humans, animals, the involvement in conflicts and bombardments operations, aid for animals will also be environment, or nature. Resources such as are contrary to the values of compassion and offered. soybeans, palm oil, copper and coal will be sustainability. During peace-keeping operations, • Dutch foreign policy is currently often on the conflict resources list. Stricter criteria respect for human rights and animal rights will focused on trade and not on the protection will apply for the international trade of these come first. of human rights. The Netherlands will speak materials. Fresh water will also hold a place out for human rights and the right to self- on this list. The era of voluntary International The Party for the Animals will only support determination of oppressed peoples such as Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR, or IMVO peacekeeping operations from the United the people of West-Papua, the Uyghurs, and in Dutch) has come to an end. It hasn’t worked. Nations with a strong political mandate. We will the Tibetans. evaluate all proposed UN missions individually • Binding Dutch ICSR legislation will be on proportionality, effectivity and legitimacy, and introduced. always with respect for international law. • Businesses will be obligated to identify, prevent, and deal with human rights violations • The Netherlands will not participate in – including child labour – pollution, attacks on combat missions, including NATO missions. animal welfare and loss of biodiversity in their • The Netherlands will retain full control of its supply chains. military. There will be no European army. • Large companies will provide critical insight • The Netherlands will no longer purchase into the origins of the materials they use new combat material such as jet fighters and and the circumstances under which their submarines. production processes take place. Each year, • The age at which our military personnel may they will publish a balance sheet for the be dispatched on missions will be increased human, animal, natural, environmental and from 18 to 21 years. climate costs. This balance sheet will provide • The Ministry of Defence will refrain from insight into the impact of the business on actively recruiting minors in any way, that welfare in the most general sense. includes recruitment for pre-military training. • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights • The weapons export policy will be adjusted will be respected, and that also applies to so that no weapons will be delivered from production processes abroad. Producers in the Netherlands or the EU to repressive and developing countries will receive aid to meet authoritative states that violate human rights. these criteria. The Netherlands will commit itself – also within the EU – to compliance with treaties

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