The EU Commission has decided to remove plans for a requirement obliging all tractor manufactures to fit an ABS on tractors with a speed between 40 and 60 km/hr.

The requirement was aimed at reducing the number of accidents on the roads involving tractors. The plans have now been shelved following 18-months of opposition from CEETTAR, which represents European contractors.

They, along with the European bodies representing farmers and manufacturers, argued that there was a lack of evidence of the positive impact of this measure despite costs that would be passed onto them.

According to the Farm and Forestry Contractors of Ireland (FCI) the decision would have added an additional €2,000 for each new tractor bought in the coming years.

FCI have welcomed the EU's decision and added that they will continue to closely monitor any future policy developments.

Their national chair, Richard White said: “Adding ABS would add disproportionate financial costs for the farm and forestry contractors, which would ultimately delay the effective use of state-of-the-art braking technology on the market.”

“Through the joint efforts of contractor associations across Europe, under the umbrella of CEETTAR, land-based contractors were able to co-operate with others to explain why ABS had major deficiencies for field operational machinery.”