The European Parliament and the Council reached a compromise on Wednesday 29 November on the draft revision of the directive governing polluting emissions from industry. The subject of multiple pressures, particularly from the agro-industrial world, the text is supposed to allow better supervision of industrial sources of air pollution but also of water and soil. The compromise prefiguring the final text appears much less restrictive than the version initially proposed by the Commission. It is the target of strong criticism from civil society, in particular because of the delays in applying the new provisions and the exemptions from which industrial cattle breeding benefits.
The text will make it possible to set limits on discharges from 50,000 industrial and agro-industrial sites in the territory of the European Union (EU). “Until now, firms were subject to a high threshold and a low threshold, and unsurprisingly chose the high rangessays a person close to the file in the European Parliament. From now on, the limit will be strict, set at the low threshold, established based on the best available techniques. »
Two new sectors are also now covered by the text: the mining industry and the construction of electric batteries – activities expected to become increasingly important, in the light of electrification projects for many uses.
The text also plans to force manufacturers to respect efficiency criteria for water consumption – withdrawals of other resources are not subject to strict objectives. “With the exception of water, the standards for the rational use of resources are established for purely indicative purposes, and therefore risk being exceeded in the future”protest in a joint press release the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), ClientEarth and Climate Action Network-Europe (CAN-Europe).
The adaptation time given to the industrialists concerned is also at the center of protests. “The maximum transition period of twelve years to adapt to lower pollution limits allows Member State authorities to continue to set more flexible emission limits, which amounts to maintaining the status quo until 2036 at least, with harmful consequences for the health of citizens, the environment and public finances”add the three environmental defense organizations.
Broad exemptions
One of the challenges of the overhaul of the directive was also to include large industrial livestock farms – responsible for water pollution and ammonia and methane emissions – in the envelope of sites subject to regulation.
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