The obligation within the EU Habitats Directive to prove that a farm will not cause significant harm to a habitat has brought farming to a standstill in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium.

Caroline van der Heyden from Flanders-based farm organisation Boerenbond, said that environmental organisations are using the Habitats Directive to prevent permits being issued to farmers. This happens even when the farmers are applying for sustainability actions, van der Heyden told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Significant

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A permit is needed in order to operate a farm of any significant size in Flanders.

One of the key environmental issues in Flanders is ammonia emissions and the impact of these emissions on delicate habitats.

Farmers there are obliged to reduce farm ammonia emissions by 15% by 2030.

Environmental organisations are using the courts to prevent farm expansion or any development by objecting to new permits as farmers cannot adequately prove that additional livestock or new facilities will not have a negative impact on habitats.

This follows the ruling from the European Court of Justice on what is dubbed the Dutch nitrates case, which said that farms may need to be considered projects under the EU Habitats Directive.

“It’s not possible for a farm to expand slurry storage, even if it doesn’t increase animal numbers because you increase ammonia emissions by storing slurry.

“Even if you put in additional measures on the farm to reduce ammonia emissions, the environmental organisations will then look at the transportation of that slurry and look at where it’s being applied and they could say that you need a permit to do that,” she said.

Challenges in the courts

There are no new permits being issued in Flanders and the appropriate assessment process, which is being carried out at a national level, is being challenged through the courts by environmental organisations.

Flanders does not currently have a nitrates derogation as its nitrates action programme, which has been developed in conjunction with the NGOs, has not been submitted to the European Commission for approval.

IFA president Francie Gorman said that the problems in Flanders are a symptom of a wider European problem with the wording in the Habitats Directive and how this is “being weaponised by NGOs to disrupt farming”, he said.

Similar

“Flanders no longer benefits from a nitrates derogation, but farming there is still in limbo because of legal challenges relating to the Habitats Directive.

“We need our EU policy makes to look at this as we cannot have a similar story play out in Ireland or other EU member states,” Gorman said.