The European Commission is taking Spain to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for insufficient enforcement of the Nitrate Directive. This puts the nitrate management of the largest EU pig producer once again under scrutiny from the European Commission.
According to the Commission, Spain has made too little progress in recent years despite earlier warnings and must now take additional measures to prevent further pollution.
The European Nitrate Directive includes the objective of zero pollution as set out in the European Green Deal. The European Commission has also previously announced legal steps against Germany.
In November 2018 and June 2020, the Commission already pointed out to Spain that it was not complying with the Nitrate Directive. Furthermore, the Spanish government must now investigate regional nitrate-sensitive areas (with many pig farms) and designate other ('red') areas. It must also develop a concrete action plan and submit it for approval to Brussels, especially for those regions where actions so far have proven insufficient.
An important part of the Green Deal is the Nitrate Directive. Its purpose is to protect water quality by preventing pollution of ground and surface water with nitrates from agricultural sources. EU countries are themselves responsible for complying with the directive.
The Commission calls on countries, for example, to better monitor their waters and actively detect pollution from nitrate contamination caused by agricultural sources.