Brussels, 29/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, 28 May, The European Parliament's agriculture committee recommended the rejection of the European Commission proposal to set out new methane emission reduction targets. It also proposed a more flexible system for ammonia emissions.
This position is part of the opinion sent to the Parliament's environment committee on the draft proposal to reduce national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants. The two main concerns of the rapporteur for the draft opinion, Jan Huitema (ALDE, Netherlands), are:
1) The inclusion of methane reduction commitments in the NEC directive is “problematic” for the agricultural sector. Methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG), which is already covered by the effort sharing decision (Decision 406/2009/EC) in the framework of the EU climate and energy package. Methane reduction commitments in the NEC would lead to “overregulation and limit the flexibility offered to the Member States in the Effort Sharing Decision”. Moreover, trade-offs with animal welfare should also be taken into account. For these reasons, the rapporteur has included an amendment to delete methane from the NEC directive.
2) The inclusion of “excessive” ammonia reduction commitments in the NEC directive also poses problems for the agricultural sector. It must be remembered that, since 1990, ammonia emissions in the EU have been reduced by almost 30%. When determining emission ceilings for ammonia, Huitema says that “previous efforts made by Member States to reduce ammonia emissions should thus, be acknowledged”. However, the emission reduction commitments for ammonia laid down in this directive for 2030 are too excessive. Therefore, the rapporteur has included an amendment to delete the 2030 reduction commitments for ammonia from Annex II. He suggests that the Commission could, instead, come forward with a proposal containing revised reduction commitments for ammonia, taking account of achievable targets for different member states, as well as a level playing field. The draft legislation, including the amendments proposed by the agriculture committee, will be scrutinised by the environment committee, the lead committee on this issue, at its meeting on 15-16 July. (Lionel Changeur)