The peasant anger which ignited France at the start of 2024 has barely ended, the French livestock sectors could once again see their environmental constraints increase.
On Tuesday, MEPs gave the green light to the new directive on industrial emissions (IED), broadening the scope of the 2010 directive which governs polluting discharges in industry and agriculture.
According to the version validated on Tuesday, which must still receive a final green light from the 27 Member States, the strict standards of this text will apply to more large industrial installations and especially poultry and pig farms, with cattle farms remaining exempt.
Also read: This millefeuille of standards which paralyzes peasant daily life
Dissuasive financial impact of upgrading
The text thus provides that from 2030 the threshold for the farms concerned will be lowered to 350 large livestock units (LU) for pig breeders, or around a thousand pigs or 120 sows, and to 300 LGU for poultry farms. (around 20,000 hens), compared to double currently.
The agricultural sectors concerned, particularly French, have been arguing for several years against this measure which they consider, along with others, to be very unfavorable to their competitiveness.
In France, in the wake of the peasant mobilization of recent weeks, they demanded that the executive take their request to Brussels for relief from the administrative and financial straitjacket.
They thus underlined that the arrangements necessary to comply with such standards would be too costly, encouraging affected breeders to leave the profession.
A new threat as some 20,000 French farmers retire each year, while only 14,000 take up the torch.