A group of 45 members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including Irish MEPs, have called on the head of the European Commission to ease the rules around granting permits for infrastructure in agriculture and other sectors.

The letter was addressed to commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and states that there is a "growing difficulty" in obtaining permits and permissions across Europe.

The letter states that this increasingly affects projects and infrastructure in several sectors, including agriculture and forestry.

The letter was signed by Irish MEPs Seán Kelly and Regina Doherty, and 43 of their colleagues from various countries and political groups.

The letter calls on President von der Leyen and her colleagues to review where existing legislation hinders investment in agriculture and other areas.

In the last couple of years, the commission has been working on several separate pieces of legislation to simplify rules in a number of sectors in an effort to boost the EU's economic competitiveness; and the letter argues that there is an argument for similar legislation to be brought forward for the permitting regime.

The letter states that agriculture and other sectors must be able to modernise, and that this requires investment and workable permitting procedures.

Commenting on the letter, Seán Kelly said: "Permitting procedures should be more streamlined across the union.

"Europe needs to strengthen its industrial base in order to secure jobs and be able to compete on the world stage across a range of sectors in the future," he added.

"That’s why we, as lawmakers, have a duty to prevent EU legislation becoming a source of further delays and impediments to achieving our goal of maximising our competitiveness," the Fine Gael MEP said.

According to Kelly, reforms to permitting rules are necessary to ensure the EU reaches its climate targets in a way that allows the economy to remain competitive.

"We cannot allow 'the perfect to become the enemy of the good', and we certainly cannot allow vital projects to be stuck in legal limbo for years based on environmental requirements," he said.

"One thing is certain, a decarbonised Europe powered by clean electricity will do more for nature and habitats than any judicial review against a new overhead power line ever could," the Ireland South MEP remarked.

Apart from President von der Leyen, the letter was also sent to commission Vice-President for Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejourne; Commissioner for the Economy Valdis Dombrovskis; and Commissioner for the Environment Jessika Roswall.