Strasbourg, 30/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The air quality legislative package, approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday 28 October, leaves the level of methane emissions from ruminants unchanged but the farming sector remains concerned about the ceilings for ammonia emissions.
The livestock and fertiliser production sector is responsible for 90% of Europe's ammonia emissions. MEPs merely removed the sub-objectives for 2025 so as to allow greater flexibility for the member states, in particular those with a large agricultural sector (see EUROPE 11420). Methane is not subject to current air quality legislation and MEPs took the view that the livestock sector must be preserved. Emissions ceilings will, however, apply to the biomass and rice production.
The EU agricultural organisations and cooperatives, Copa-Cogeca, welcomed the MEPs' “step in the right direction”. Nevertheless, this position “still poses a serious threat to EU livestock sector”, Copa-Cogeca says. The exemption of the livestock sector from methane reduction targets is a step forwards but “we still have serious concerns about the ammonia reduction targets”, Copa-Cogeca states. It argues that “ammonia reductions are not cost-efficient”, something that was not highlighted in the Commission's impact assessment. It is the small and medium-sized farms that will be particularly hard hit, it warns. (Original version on French by Lionel Changeur)