The Farmer–Citizen Movement was founded on 1 November 2019 by agricultural journalist Caroline van der Plas, together with Wim Groot Koerkamp and Henk Vermeer from agricultural marketing firm ReMarkAble, in response to the widespread farmers' protests that had taken place earlier that month.[8][9] On 17 October 2020, Van der Plas was unanimously chosen as the party's lead candidate.[10] It won one seat at the 2021 general election.[8]
The BBB won the 2023 Dutch provincial elections, winning the popular vote and receiving the most seats in all twelve provinces.[11][12][13][14] Given that the provincial councils elect the Dutch Senate, the party was predicted to win 17 seats in the 2023 Dutch Senate election, the most of any party;[13] it won 16 seats in the election.
In European politics, the party is regarded as Eurosceptic.[5][33] The BBB supports Dutch membership of the European Union (EU) for trading purposes, but wants to reduce the power of the EU "to a level of how the EEC was once intended" and opposes federalisation of the EU. The party argues that each country and region within the EU should be allowed to maintain its identity and culture without interference.[34][33] It stated its intention to join the European People's Party[35] but unlike other EPP parties, BBB did not join the Christian Group in the Benelux Parliament[36] nor does BBB sit in the EPP group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[37]
On foreign policy, the party also supports Dutch membership of NATO and has called for providing Ukraine with F-16s.[38]
On immigration and asylum, the party supports accommodating refugees fleeing wars but prefers they be helped close to the region of where they are from rather than encouraging migration to the Netherlands and intends for most refugees to return home once the conflict is over. It also calls for immigrants to already be employed and financially self-supporting before moving to the Netherlands, and they must learn Dutch, work and pay tax in the Netherlands for at least five years before becoming eligible for permanent residency. The party supports deporting illegal immigrants.[33]
Party leader Caroline van der Plas has stated that the Party for the Animals and animal rights organization Wakker Dier are two organisations with whom she disagrees with 99% of their viewpoints. She saw the effect of their campaigns and wanted to provide an alternative perspective on social media.[42]
In the 2021 Dutch general election, the party focused its campaign on issues important to rural and agrarian voters, including pledges for a "Ministry of the Countryside" located at least 100 kilometers from The Hague, and a removal of the ban on neonicotinoids.[43] The party called for a Right to Agriculture Act, which would allow for farmers to have more say on agricultural expansion matters, in response to local opposition to pig and goat farms over public health, environmental and agricultural concerns.
^Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
^"Bestuur BoerBurgerBeweging". BoerBurgerBeweging (in Dutch). 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
^ ab"BBB partijgeschiedenis". Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
^"Rural populist party emerges as big winner in Dutch elections". The Guardian. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023. The BBB, which has won the support of far-right and populist parties internationally, claims the problem has been exaggerated and that farmers' livelihoods are being sacrificed to the green transition.
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Media related to BoerBurgerBeweging at Wikimedia Commons
European Parliament, Netherlands
