King can keep subsidy for Het Loo nature reserve, court rules

The subsidy that King Willem-Alexander received from 2016 to 2021 for the management of Crown Domain Het Loo is lawful. The King received a recreation allowance for the part of the nature reserve that is open to the public all year round. The allowance was not provided for the part of the reserve that is closed annually for three months, which means that the Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality did not have to impose an opening obligation for that area, the Trade Appeals Board (CBb) ruled on Tuesday in a case filed by the Fauna Protection Foundation.

The Fauna Protection Foundation wanted the King to repay 4.8 million euros in subsidies, arguing that he violated the conditions for granting subsidies. However, the CBb ruled the subsidy in question consists of two parts – one for nature management and one for enabling recreation in the nature reserve. The government only paid the recreation allowance to the part of the domain that is always open, and, therefore, the conditions have justly only been imposed for that part.

The Fauna Protection Foundation believes that the Minister should not have paid the subsidy at all. According to the animal rights organization, the province is the appropriate organization for this. And the provincial subsidy regulation does not provide for an exemption from the opening obligation. Because the Ministry has provided the subsidy, the King is favored over others, the foundation argued.

The CBb sees this differently. The Minister is not legally obliged to refer a subsidy obligation. The application also fits with the national policy for nature and outdoor recreation, according to the council, and is correctly included in the Ministry’s budget.

The Fauna Protection Foundation is very disappointed with the ruling, calling it “a helping hand to the King.” According to the organization, the council’s reasoning about the opening obligation is “its own invention.”

The organization says it has documents showing that officials always wanted to enforce the obligation that subsidized nature reserves must be open to the public year-round, but that intervention “from above” prevented this to allow “the royal hunt.” It is known that the Royal family uses the part of the Het Loo domain that is closed in the autumn for hunting.

No further appeal is possible in this long-running case. The CBb’s decision is final.