The European Commission is preparing an assessment on simplifying aspects of the Nitrates Directive, Agriland understands.

The move comes as part of the commission’s wider “simplification agenda” to cut bureaucracy and red tape among some of its key policies and regulations.

It is understood that this assessment of how the Nitrates Directive can be simplified is currently due to be announced sometime during the summer.

However, that assessment will be based on possible flexibilities that member states themselves can avail of under the Nitrates Directive, rather than changing anything about the directive itself.

The Nitrates Directive is one of the older EU directives, and in fact slightly pre-dates the EU, and one EU official told Agriland in Brussels that older directives tend to be more basic in their content, which could leave room for considerable flexibility.

However, the actual manure nitrogen limit of 170kg N per hectare is unlikely to face any amendment, as that limit is regarded scientifically sound as it is.

The Habitats Directive is also undergoing a process of scrutiny with the aim of cutting back on administrative burden. Going forward, both directives will be vital to the nitrates derogation in Ireland.

Ireland has to assess the impact that granting derogations under the directive will have on the objectives set out under the Habitats Directive.

Ireland has committed to carrying out those assessments by the end of 2028, and it is understood that any flexibility to the either directive will not remove that the requirement.

Calls for simplification

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon told a meeting of EU agriculture ministers earlier this year that EU laws on nitrates, habitats and nature should be simplified.

At a meeting of the Council of the EU in early April, Minister Heydon welcomed the European Commission's proposal to simplify environmental legislation.

However, he said there is "scope" to widen the simplification proposals to include the Nitrates Directive, the Habitats Directive, and the Nature Restoration Law.

Minister Heydon told the meeting: "Ireland welcomes the commission's environmental simplification proposal".

The minister said the proposal "reflects the progress" being made with the implementation of the EU's Vision for Agriculture and Food, which was adopted by the commission in February of last year.

However, Minister Heydon also told the council: "Nevertheless, there is scope to be more ambitious in our approach to simplification of environmental legislation, while at the same time safeguarding the robust environmental protections… for example, by widening its coverage to include the Nature Restoration Law, the Habitats Directive, and the Nitrates Directive."