Mullooly urges EU to apply 'common sense' on nitrates derogation
Independent Ireland MEP Ciaran Mullooly has said that the European Commission needs to apply "common sense" as "crucial decisions are made on Ireland’s nitrates derogation".
The comments come ahead of the visit to Ireland today (Friday, November 7) of European Commissioner for Environment Jessika Roswall for meetings and a farm visit.
The nitrates derogation allows 7,000 Irish farmers to spread above the EU standard limit of 170kg of livestock manure nitrogen per hectare provided they adhere to stricter environmental conditions.
The measure, which is seen as crucial to the dairy sector in particular, is due to expire at the end of this year.
Nitrates derogation
Midlands-North-West MEP Ciaran Mullooly said that Commissioner Roswall is coming to Ireland for "crisis talks" on the derogation.
“This morning she is in Kildare on a farm where she will see our unique grass-fed beef model with cattle still out and she will be told how critical it is that our farmers are given sufficient time to try to comply with the regulations," he said.
The MEP said that he has previously spoken with Commissioner Roswall about the urgency of both agricultural and environmental actions.
“The first time I met this commissioner in my office in Strasbourg I told her that the government here also needs to get its act together and deal with thousands of gallons of municipal waste flowing untreated into our rivers and lakes every day," he said.
Balance
Mullooly added that the commissioner must balance scientific guidance with real-world livelihoods:
"The commissioner says she will be led by science in deciding if we hold onto the derogation or not but she must also realise we can’t just drop everyone off the cliff at the end of the year.
"Reducing the parameters of the derogation would be unfair at this point as farmers already face new costs as it stands to put more slurry storage in place - a factor I brought to the attention of the [European] Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen this week in Brussels.
"I am optimistic some common sense will prevail in the coming days in the European Commission and we will continue to lobby the commissioner and our colleagues in Europe to try and resolve this mess," he said.
