On 29 May 2019 the Council of State (Raad van State) struck down the Programmatic Approach to Nitrogen (PAS), the scheme that had allowed projects to emit nitrogen near protected Natura 2000 sites against promised future reductions, finding it incompatible with the EU Habitats Directive. The ruling invalidated the basis for thousands of permits, freezing housing, road and farm-expansion projects across the country. It exposed the conflict between intensive land use and ecological limits and triggered a national policy and political crisis. Construction was only partly unlocked through later interim measures.
The ruling halted large parts of Dutch building activity and made nitrogen deposition a binding constraint on where and whether development can proceed.
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