Denmark will not ask the European Commission to extend the derogation. It expires in Denmark in a few weeks. The country says it will focus on ways to reduce nitrogen emissions.
The Danish government took this decision partly after intensive discussions with the European Commission. Denmark, like the Netherlands and Ireland, has not been able to sufficiently reduce pollution in its (coastal) waters over the past ten or fifteen years.
Germany previously tried for years to get out of European rules and therefore lost its derogation in 2014. Some Danish agricultural companies have been exempt from the nitrate directive for 22 years, but will soon be allowed to spread less animal manure on grassland. As a result, another place will have to be found for a million tons of animal manure in the short term.
The loss of the derogation has major consequences for the cattle sector, as around 40 percent of Danish dairy cows are on farms that use it. Livestock farmers will have to find up to 35 percent more surface area to dispose of their animal manure elsewhere, an estimated 30,000 additional hectares. A similar situation is looming in Ireland.
In recent years, successive Dutch agriculture ministers have tried in vain to obtain permission for further postponement. This cannot be discussed with Brussels, partly because there is already a phased reduction spread over several years.
The option of possibly reducing the livestock herd has also been high on the agenda in Denmark for several months, partly after an expert committee ('the green tripartite') recommended imposing an additional tax on nitrogen emissions. In that case, livestock farmers can receive a subsidy for switching to sustainable and climate-neutral food production.