On Thursday 29 September, the European Commission sent reasoned opinions requiring Bulgaria and Slovakia to comply with EU Directive 91/676 on projecting water from nitrate pollution.
The Commission says that the Bulgarian authorities have failed to fully align their national anti-nitrate action plan with EU rules, particularly on the spreading of fertiliser and the annual cap of 170 kg N/ha for livestock farming effluents.
Slovakia needs to designate more nitrate-vulnerable areas and ensure that its national plan to limit nitrates complies with EU rules. Both countries now have two months to take action, failing which they risk being sent to the European Court of Justice.
Approval for France. French agriculture minister Stéphane Le Foll said in a press release on Thursday that the European Commission is satisfied with the country’s new nitrate action plan. He said it was a major turning point in implementation of a European Court of Justice ruling that found France guilty for the second time in September 2014 (see EUROPE 11148) following a ruling in June 2013 (see EUROPE 10866). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)