The A12 blockade is a string of protests by Extinction Rebellion (XR) on the (part of the A12 motorway) in The Hague, irregularly since 6 July 2022 and there were daily blockades from 9 September 2023 until 5 October.The blockades has been stopped until at least Christmas after a motion in the Tweede Kamer passed that called on the government to make a plan to phase out fossil subsidies. The activists demand that the government end fossil fuel subsidies, which are estimated at between €39.7 and €46.4 billion a year. Thousands of activists have been arrested. Political and social reactions to the blockades have been mixed.
Background
Extinction Rebellion demand an end to fossil subsidies. By this, they mean not only direct subsidies but also indirect subsidies, ranging from tax exemptions to relatively low taxes on energy consumption for big users. The subsidies were calculated at €4.5 billion in 2020 by the government themselves, with the side note that this figure excludes numerous subsidies. In January 2023, Alman Metten (a former MEP for the PvdA) calculated that the fossil subsidies were €17.5 billion in 2019.
On 4 September 2023, environmental organizations estimated the subsidies at €37.5 billion, not long after the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy released their own calculations, which evaluated it at between €39.7 and €46.4 billion a year.
Location
The blockades are on the Utrechtsebaan which is designated as part of the A12 but is not considered a motorway. As such, the local authority is responsible for managing it. This location was chosen as it lies between the temporary location of the Tweede Kamer and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Often the protesters do not succeed in getting to the location exactly between the two, as the police stops them at the beginning of the Utrechtsebaan.
Timeline
2021
13 October: Protesters attempted to blockade the road, but the police prevented them. Four of them were convicted to 45 hours of community service.
2022
6 July - 1ste blockade: Several dozen activists got arrested.
21 September -2nd blockade: Several activists glued themselves on the road and 21 activists got arrested.
15 October - 3rd blockade: 62 activists got arrested.
26 November - 4th blockade: They blocked the road for three hours and 150 activists got arrested.
2023
26 January: Eight activists got arrested for sedition, as they called on people to participate in the blockade. They were also banned from the area where the protest would take place. Civil society groups said these measures were too harsh and said that civil disobedience is a legitimate way of protest.
28 January - 5th blockade: 1000 activists took part in the blockade and another 2000 were there to support the activists, protesting next to the road. 650 protesters got arrested. Because of what happened two days prior, almost 40 civil society organizations supported the blockade.
11 March - 6th blockade: Around 3000 protesters blocked the road with 700 of them being arrested. It was the first day that a water cannon was being used on the activists.
27 May - 7th blockade: Around 7000 activists blocked the road or came in support. The water cannon was used before 1,579 of them got arrested.
20 June: Extinction Rebellion announces a daily blockade from September 9 onwards, if they get arrested they will come back the following day at 12 o'clock until fossil subsidies are ended.
September
9 September - 8th blockade: 10,000 to 25,000 people showed up, including the supporters. The water cannons were used before the police arrested 2,400 activists.
10 September - 9th blockade: 500 activists got arrested and blocked the road for more than 1.5 hours.
11 September - 10th blockade: The first weekday of the permanent blockade attracted a couple hundred activists, with 210 of whom were arrested. The road was blocked for a little over two hours.
12 September - 11th blockade: A little less than 200 activists got arrested. A driver was also arrested after he attacked a local journalist. The blockade lasted for a little more than one hour.
13 September until 26 September - 12th blockade until 25th blockade: Everday around a couple hundred activists got arrested with police often using the water cannon before arresting them. The road was blocked for several hours each time.