Despite attempts by the EPP, ECR and ID groups to pave the way for further amendments, on Tuesday 12 March, MEPs validated the provisional political agreement with the Council of the EU on the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) (393 votes in favour, 173 against and 49 abstentions). They also approved the Interinstitutional Agreement on the corollary proposal for a regulation on the ‘Emissions Portal’ (506 votes in favour, 85 against and 25 abstentions) (see EUROPE 13326/7).
Industrial emissions. Pressure from the right-wing parties, joined by half the Renew Europe group - including the French delegation - was not enough to amend the agreement. The European Right, which did not have the support of the rapporteur for this dossier, Radan Kanev (Bulgarian), even though he is a member of the EPP, wanted to maintain the original provisions of the directive and not lower the thresholds above which a farm falls within the scope of the text.
“The argument of the S&D, the Greens and The Left is that the agricultural sector must contribute to reducing emissions. We never said that it should not play its role. Except that this directive is designed for the industrial sector, not for cows and pigs”, a source from the Renew Europe group told Agence Europe.
The IED agreement provides for measures to be extended to pig farms with more than 350 livestock units (LSU), laying hen farms with more than 300 LSU and broiler farms with more than 280 LSU. The threshold for mixed farms would be set at 350 LSU. At Parliament’s request during negotiations with the Council of the EU, cattle were excluded from the text. However, a rendez-vous clause will allow the Commission to re-examine the situation in 2026. Organic farms will not be covered by the text. On the other hand, installations in the extractive industry and large-scale installations for the production of batteries will have to comply with IED rules.
Industrial emissions portal. MEPs have given the green light to the transformation of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register into an EU industrial emissions portal. Data on all European permits and local polluting activities will be accessible to the public, and companies that fail to comply may, in the most serious cases, be subject to penalties equivalent to at least 3% of the operator’s annual EU turnover.
To see the text on industrial emissions, go to https://aeur.eu/f/b9i
To see the text on the industrial emissions portal, go to https://aeur.eu/f/b9j (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)