It is expected that the Directive changes will be rubber-stamped by Environment Council when they next meet in autumn.

Thanks to NFU lobbying, the original proposals put forward by the European Commission in late 2007 were significantly amended and the final package that was agreed removed the following elements:

• Reduction in the thresholds for laying hens, ducks and turkeys to 30,000, 24,000 and 11,500 respectively
• Inclusion of pigs and other poultry on the basis of nitrogen excretion equivalency
• Extension of controls to off-site manure spreading, and
• Inclusion of glasshouses with boiler units of total rated thermal input of below 50MW within the controls.

However, the package agreed by MEPs also included a clause which allows the European Commission to review poultry thresholds by the end of 2011 and by the end of 2012 to review:

• manure spreading
• combustion plant size thresholds, and
• emissions from cattle.

Further Reading

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NFU members only: you can view the full report by clicking here.