Annexes to COM(2010)47 - Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports for the period 2004-2007 SEC(2010)118 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2010)47 - Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2010)47  |
| date | February 9, 2010 |
All Member States have established one or more action programmes on their territory and have provided in their reports information regarding newly established action programmes and modifications following the required periodical review.
Several Member States have used the possibility foreseen by the Nitrates Directive to design and implement different action programmes on individual nitrate vulnerable zones or parts of zones including France, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Romania.
Most action programmes cover required measures; however, some need further reinforcement in order to sufficiently protect water quality against nitrogen pollution. Main insufficiencies relate to storage provisions, balanced fertilisation and establishment of periods during which fertilisation is banned.
The Nitrates Directive limits the land application from livestock manure to 170 kg N/ha per year in designated zones to which action programmes apply. This application standard is established in almost all action programmes.
The storage capacity for manure has increased further during this last reporting period. Nevertheless, insufficient storage capacity for manure is among the most cited difficulties which Member States encounter during the implementation of action programmes. Storage capacity should be sufficient in order to cover the periods when manure application is prohibited or impossible due to climatic conditions. Lack of financial resources among farmers is cited as hampering the construction of new storage facilities.
The majority of farmers subjected to control showed a high compliance with the measures of the action programmes. However, the following difficulties in implementing the action programmes were reported:
- Accurate record keeping by farmers regarding manure and fertilizer application
- Low awareness level by farmers, especially in case of small holdings. Many such farmers have difficulties in understanding the measures of the action programmes due to a lack of knowledge
A number of Member States (e.g. Austria, the Netherlands) report that the overall awareness by farmers regarding the natural environment has changed in a positive way, resulting for instance in an improved handling of manure and fertilizers.
Chapter III of the Staff Working Document refers to some examples of progress made in action programmes for several Member States.
The Commission is also aware of an increased interest in manure processing initiatives. In several Member States, in particular the regions with intensive livestock production and high nutrient surpluses, livestock manure is being processed in order to generate end products that are easily transportable for export or products with a changed nutrient ratio that allows better nutrient management resulting in reduced nutrient surpluses. The processing techniques range from simple separation into a liquid and solid fraction to more advanced techniques such as drying, composting or incineration of solid fractions and biological treatment, membrane filtration and physico-chemical techniques for liquid fractions. The techniques are often combined with digestion processes in biogas installations for energy production. The establishment of several large cooperative initiatives in which large groups of farmers invest commonly in manure processing installations is also of interest. Such initiatives now exist notably in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
It should also be mentioned that there exists an increased interest among livestock farmers for the application of adapted feeding techniques such as low N diets, multiphase feeding with adapted feed depending on growth stage and advanced feeding management that improves the overall efficiency of feed use in the animal. Advanced feed processing techniques contribute to improved feed conversion efficiency and reduced nutrient excretion.
DEROGATIONS
The Nitrates Directive allows for the possibility for a derogation in respect to the maximum amount of 170 kg nitrogen per hectare per year for livestock manure, provided that it is demonstrated that the directive’s objectives are still achieved and that the derogation is based on objective criteria such as long growing seasons, crops with high nitrogen uptake, high net precipitation or soils with a high denitrification capacity. Derogations require a Commission Decision following the opinion of the Nitrates Regulatory Committee, which assists the Commission on implementation of the directive. Appropriate designation of nitrate vulnerable zones and action programmes fully in conformity with the directive are prerequisites to any derogation and the derogation applies only for the duration of the action programme. A list of derogations granted until December 2009 is provided in the Chapter II of the Staff Working Document.
FORECAST ON WATER QUALITY
Many Member States provided elements on assessment methods (trend analyses and simulation models), for the evaluation of trends in agricultural pressure and/or water quality evolution. No information was provided by Cyprus, France, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia. Ireland did not provide simulation models, but cited measures and developments as likely to impact positively on water quality in future.
As in the last reporting period, only a few Member States provided quantitative data on the time scale during which either a stabilization of pollution or a recovery of the water quality is forecasted to be achieved. Many Member States point out the difficulties in making such a forecast, mostly referring to uncertainties regarding climate and transport processes in soils and the fact that other measures beyond agricultural measures have been taken to improve water quality.
In general, despite the achieved improvements in water quality, it will still take several years to decades before full recovery of water quality can be achieved as a result of the implementation of the action programmes and modification of the agricultural practices. In the few cases where a timescale of a substantial restoration of water quality is provided, it ranges from 4-8 years (Germany and Hungary) to over several decades for deeper groundwaters (the Netherlands).
INFRINGEMENT PROCEDURES
The implementation of the Nitrates Directive is still incomplete, mainly relating to insufficient designation of nitrate vulnerable zones and non conformity of action programmes. The Commission is in continuous discussion with all Member States as to attain compliant implementation and has currently 3 open infringement cases. The case against Spain relates to designation of vulnerable zones and content of action programmes, the ones against France and Luxembourg relate to the action programmes.
LINKS WITH OTHER EU POLICIES
The Nitrates Directive has close links with other EU policies in the field of water, air, climate change and agriculture. Experiences of implementation and more advanced scientific insights in synergistic effects of measures in nitrate action programmes, indicates the value of full implementation of the policies. A recent study[28] on integrated measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emissions has shown important benefits for air and the remission of green house gas emissions through the implementation of the Nitrates Directive. Further details on policy links are referred to in Chapter 4 of the staff working document .
CONCLUSIONS
This reporting exercise includes for the first time all 27 Member States. All new Member States, have established monitoring networks, designated vulnerable zones and established action programmes.
Regarding water quality, for groundwater, 66% of the monitoring stations show stable or decreasing nitrate concentrations. However, in 34% of the stations an increase in nitrate pollution was still observed and 15% of stations showed nitrate concentrations above the quality threshold of 50 mg per litre. Within groundwater bodies, shallow levels showed higher nitrate concentrations than deeper levels. The highest proportion of contaminated water lies between 5 and 15 metres below the surface.
For fresh surface water, 70% of the monitoring stations show stable or decreasing nitrate concentrations. In 3% the concentration is exceeding 50 mg per litre while in 21% the concentration is below 2 mg per litre. In 33% of the stations monitoring trophic status, the water is defined eutrophic or hypertrophic. The pressure from agriculture with respect to surface water nitrate pollution has decreased in many Member States, although still, agriculture contributes largely to nitrogen loads to surface waters.
A further increase in the area of vulnerable zones as compared to the former reporting period is observed in the EU 15. Designated zones increased from 43,7% to 44,6 % of the EU 15 territory, while 39,6% of the EU 27 territory is designated, including the territory of Member States that apply an action programme on the whole territory. However, water quality data show that, in several regions, for both EU 15 as EU 12, further increases in designation are necessary according to the criteria set out in the Nitrates Directive.
The quality of action programmes further improved as compared with the last reporting period in the EU 15; however, it is still often driven by infringement procedures. All new Member States established action programmes, but several programmes need further improvement in order to attain full compliance with the requirements of the Nitrates Directive, particularly the provisions that relate to storage construction, balanced fertilisation and establishment of periods during which land application is banned. Availability of information and training services to farmers and efficient control programmes are essential in order to ensure effective implementation of programmes in the field.
In intensive livestock regions an increased interest in manure processing techniques is observed, allowing more efficient nutrient management often combined with production of energy from biogas production. The efficient nutrient management is playing a role in reducing farm costs.
Experiences of implementation and advanced scientific insights in synergistic effects of measures in nitrate action programmes suggest that nitrogen policies require an integrated approach by considering the whole nitrogen cycle and that implementation of the Nitrates Directive brings substantial benefits notably in terms of reductions in ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions as well in the wider field of water protection under the Water Framework Directive. More attention to this aspect of nitrogen management will be necessary in future, as well as an adequate and continuous support from the scientific community at both National and European level.
The Commission will continue to work with Member States to improve implementation with the common aim to protect waters. It will continue to take legal action where it considers necessary.
[1] Including Romania and Bulgaria, although not yet obliged. Bulgaria included also water quality data for the period 2000-2003
[2] Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary reported in 2004 on the period 2000-2003.
[3] See figures 1A and 1B in the SWD
[4] Based on OECD statistics for 2003-2007. The database has no info on Belgium and Ireland. Ireland provided own figures.
[5] See table 3 in the SWD.
[6] See maps 1 to 6 in the SWD.
[7] See map 7 in the SWD.
[8] Directive 2000/60/EC.
[9] See maps 8-15 in the SWD.
[10] 50 mg NO3-/l is the trigger value set in the Nitrates Directive.
[11] See figure 2 in the SWD.
[12] Czech Republic did not provide water quality data in the report submitted for 2000-2003, which made trend analysis not possible.
[13] See figure 3 in the SWD.
[14] Except Sweden for the above mentioned reasons.
[15] See table 1 in the SWD.
[16] See figure 4 in the SWD.
[17] See figure 5 in the SWD.
[18] See maps 11, 12 and 14 in Chapter I of the SWD.
[19] Decrease in nitrate concentrations of at least 5mg per litre.
[20] Greece provided an updated dataset, however due to late submission it could not be considered, first delivered data are presented.
[21] Increase in nitrate concentrations of at least 5mg per litre.
[22] See map 13 in the SWD.
[23] See figure 6 in the SWD.
[24] See table 2 in the SWD.
[25] EU 27 minus Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland. and United Kingdom due to lack of or incomplete data.
[26] See figure 7 in the SWD.
[27] Based on data for the year 2007, see table 4 figure 8 and map 16 in the SWD.
[28] Commission report 'Integrated measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emissions', Alterra, 2007