Less brownfield land needed in the EU

Although it is not supported by a majority of EU states, the EU Commission is relaxing an environmental requirement for farmers in Europe. The requirement to leave four percent of arable land lying fallow or used unproductively will be suspended retroactively as of January 1st. The authority announced this on Tuesday.

The requirement was actually intended to protect the environment. In recent weeks there have been farmers’ protests in several countries against environmental regulations from Brussels. With the exceptions, the EU Commission is now meeting farmers’ demands.

According to the Commission, the prerequisite for taking advantage of the exception is that farmers in return grow nitrogen-fixing plants such as lentils or peas or catch crops on four percent of their arable land. The first proposal mentioned seven percent of arable land. The environmental organization Global 2000 criticizes the exception.