The Environment Committee of the European Parliament has voted in favour of the compromise reached in late November on the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
The compromise reached in November by negotiators from both the parliament and the Council of the EU (also known as the Council of Ministers) excluded cattle farms from the scope of the directive.
The compromise was reached trough the ‘trilogue’ process, which involves negotiations on a legislative text by representatives of the parliament and the council, with the European Commission also taking part.
The final agreement rolled back on the commission’s proposal for revising the IED, which did include cattle farms, and which sparked concerns from farm organisations around Europe that beef and dairy farms above a certain stocking rate would require permits to operate.
However, the environment committee has now accepted the compromise position which excludes cattle farms following its vote late last week, with 64 committee members voting in favour and five voting against, with seven abstentions.
The one regular Irish member of the committee that voted, the Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan, voted in favour of the compromise deal.
The exclusion of cattle enterprises from the scope of the IED reform, when first announced in November, was welcomed by farm organisations in Ireland.
However, Copa-Cogeca, the umbrella group of EU farm organisations and agricultural co-operatives, took a more negative view of the agreed text on behalf of its pig and poultry farming members.
Reacting to the vote in the Environment Committee last week, Copa said on X (formally known as Twitter): “The [European Parliament Environment Committee] voted in favour of the compromise reached in trilogue on the Industrial Emissions Directive. We deeply regret the outcome of the trilogue and this vote, which brings it closer to its approval.
“The IED will penalise thousands of family pig and poultry farms across [the EU] while being unfair from a trade point of view as none of our pigs and poultry imports will have to respect similar requirements,” Copa said.
It is understood that the compromise deal will have to be voted on by the full parliament, and accepted by the full Council of Ministers, before it takes effect.
Industrial Emissions Directive
While the compromise excludes cattle farms for now, they may come within its scope at a later date.
The agreement requires the commission to undertake a review of how emissions from cattle farms should addressed.
This review will take place before December 31, 2026. The possibility remains open that cattle farms may be included in the IED sometime after that review, though it is understood that a fresh legislative proposal would be required from the commission to do so.
The original proposal to revise the IED (which covers all industry, not just agriculture, and which already applies to the largest pig and poultry operations), that was drafted by the commission would have extended the IED to many more farms, including, for the first time, cattle farms.
The commission originally proposed that livestock farms of stocking rates above 150 livestock units (LUs), would be included (a livestock unit does not necessarily equate to one animal, e.g., a dairy cow is 1LU, but a younger bovine would be less than 1LU, while a pig would be lower again, and a chicken only a small fraction of 1LU).
However, there appeared to be little appetite in the council and much of the parliament, for the inclusion of livestock farms over 150LUs.