Last week it was leaked that Brussels had based the new IED directive on outdated and obsolete figures, and that many more pig and poultry farms will soon be affected.
The European Commission's environmental department announced on January 30, during a meeting in Brussels of a working group of Agriculture Ministers, that it no longer relies on data from 2016 but instead on more current figures from 2020.
Until now, the European Commission said that on average "only 13% of farms" would fall under the new rules. Using the most recent data, this rises for poultry from 15% to 58% and for pig farms from 18% to 61%. There are barely any differences in dairy and other livestock sectors.
EU researchers state that the figures come from the annual surveys conducted by the EU in the agricultural sectors. This survey, which provides information about the size and number of farms, was also used to calculate the proposed IED threshold of 150 livestock units (LSU).
A possible cause of the differences could be that between 2016 and 2020 there were many mergers and acquisitions in the pig and poultry industries. Duplicate counts were also removed from the results.
The new calculations will undoubtedly lead to new objections and protests in the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee. Since the IED is a directive, a two-year transition period is allowed before it takes effect. In practice, this means that even if a deal on the IED is reached in 2023, the directive will only be implemented in 2025.
COPA and Cogeca say they hope EU policymakers will seriously consider these new data and reassess the Commission’s proposal.