Brussels closes German nitrate pollution case after decade

Jul 02, 2023

By Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de | translated by Daniel Eck

01-06-2023 (updated: 02-06-2023 )

News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir have already welcomed the Commission's decision. [SHUTTERSTOCK/SARAH SLOANE]

Languages: Deutsch

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Germany is now in compliance with EU nitrate pollution rules and equipped to further tackle high pollution levels in groundwater, the European Commission announced on Thursday (1 June), ending a decade-long back-and-forth with Brussels and the threat of hefty fines.

Read the original German article here.

In 2013, Brussels initiated infringement proceedings against Germany for failing to actively combat the increasing nitrate contamination of groundwater, thereby violating the EU nitrates directive.

The directive aims to protect water quality by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources from polluting ground and surface waters. Nitrate-based fertilisers are considered one of the main causes of high nitrate pollution in groundwater.

But, after a decade-long back and forth between Brussels and Berlin, the Commission decided to close the case on Thursday (1 June).

Its decision follows a series of changes to fertiliser legislation by the federal and state governments, a Commission spokeswoman told EURACTIV.

"Overall, the Commission now considers that the rules adopted by Germany are in line with the nitrates directive and are appropriate to address the ongoing need to tackle the high levels of nitrates in its waters. It, therefore, closes its proceedings," the Commission's spokeswoman added.

Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir have already welcomed the Commission's decision.

"It was a very long road, with difficult negotiations between the Commission, the federal government, the federal states, farmers, the water industry and environmental associations," Lemke said in a statement.

Fierce resistance to tightening fertiliser rules also came from the agricultural sector, which feared a drop in yields.

In July of last year, the federal and state governments passed amendments to the controls on the use of fertilisers, expanding the definition of particularly polluted areas and severely restricting the application of fertiliser in many more German regions.

At the time, groups representing farmers, such as the German Farmers’ Association (DBV), warned that farms located in these so-called ‘red areas’ that practice water-conserving farming should not be burdened.

To ensure this, the federal cabinet introduced a new fertiliser law on Wednesday (31 May) that would make it possible to collect data on fertiliser use in the future.

Through close monitoring, it is hoped that those farms that significantly contribute to nitrate pollution will be held more accountable, while those that do not will be relieved.

The changes are, therefore, "the basis for establishing the polluter-pays principle in the best possible way", emphasised Özdemir, who saw the decision from Brussels as ‘recognition’ for the work that has been done.

The German parliament's upper house approved a compromise proposal for implementing the EU Nitrates Directive on Friday (8 July), put forward by German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir to avoid paying huge fines to Brussels.

In addition to the expansion of the red zones, the Commission also pointed out to EURACTIV other restrictions on fertilisation that had been decisive for the termination of the proceedings, including the ban on using fertilisers on frozen soils and stricter rules on the application of fertiliser on sloping arable land.

In October 2018, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that Germany had not sufficiently responded to the Commission's warnings that called on the then Environment Ministry to increase its efforts to reduce nitrate levels in groundwater.

Without the measures that now led to the termination of the infringement proceedings, Germany would have been threatened with renewed proceedings before the EU's highest court and possible fines that could have amounted to several hundred thousand euros per day.

After a long back-and-forth, Germany's agriculture ministry has found a compromise with the European Commission over the implementation of the EU's Nitrate Directive, meaning it will likely avoid multi-million euro fines. EURACTIV Germany reports.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

Languages: Deutsch

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