Leading EPP lawmaker to challenge new EU livestock emissions rules in final vote

A bid to include more livestock farms under the scope of European Union rules to curb industrial emissions faces uncertainty as centre-right MEPs could obstruct the approval of the draft legislation during a final vote at the European Parliament next Tuesday (12 March).

Benoît Lutgen, an MEP from the European People’s Party (EPP) leading the work on the file at the Agriculture Committee (AGRI), told Euractiv that he would table five amendments to maintain the current emissions rules for the farming sector. “The agricultural sector should not even have been in the text,” he stressed.

EU co-legislators agreed in a ‘trilogue’ (tripartite meetings among EU institutions) last November to revise the Industrial Emission Directive (IED).

In the agreement, they broadened the revised emissions rules to more pig and poultry farms from 2030. Parliament negotiators succeeded in excluding cattle farms from the directive and diluting the ambitions of the initial European Commission proposal.

For Lutgen, the Commission’s decision to prolong trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine until June 2025, which allow the war-torn country to export unlimited quantities of food commodities, including poultry and eggs, to the EU duty-free, pushed him to withdraw his support.

“The European Commission has taken a decision that, in my view, calls the [outcome of the] trilogue into question,” Lutgen told Euractiv.

“You can’t ask our producers to meet new standards and at the same time accept large quantities [of poultry] that come into the EU without adhering to the same standards and obligations,” he added.

While reiterating the importance of supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, the Belgian politician said the trade measures benefit Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosiuk, the owner of the poultry production giant MHP, which controls approximately 55% of the country’s industrial chicken production, at the detriment of EU farmers.

“I remind you that Ukrainian chickens are partly produced by MHP, a multinational based in Cyprus, and all for the benefit of a Ukrainian oligarch,” he said.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron made similar accusations against “Kyiv’s chicken king,” claiming that “three-quarters” of Ukrainian chicken imports benefit a single “billionaire”.

The conservative MEP also expressed hope for the support of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council to incorporate any potential changes, as they would also require approval from EU countries.

Lutgen’s last-ditch effort to introduce changes to the draft rules is uncommon at this stage of the legislative process, where the final Parliament vote is typically considered a formality.

However, uncertainty remains on whether the entire EPP family, self-proclaimed as the “farmer’s party” for the upcoming Parliament election, will endorse this move.

The centre-right group recently failed to adopt a unified stance during a similar attempt to prevent the approval of the Nature Restoration Law, which eventually passed with votes from some EPP members.

Divisions also run deep in the EPP regarding the extension of trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine and proposed changes to the Commission’s proposal, which could significantly stretch the legislative process.

Parliament committee considers more safeguards in trade liberalisation with Ukraine

The European Parliament Trade Committee will vote tomorrow (7 March) whether to add new limits to trade benefits to Kyiv to appease EU farmers, or to approve the new rules with no changes to speed up their adoption in help of the country in war.

Environmental groups sound the alarm

In response to the EPP’s intentions, environmental organisations, including the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Greenpeace and Compassion in World Farming, have urged MEPs to support the negotiated agreement without modifications.

“Amending this text on any single point after a political agreement was reached puts the entire legislation at risk,” they wrote in a joint letter shared with Euractiv.

The groups cautioned that the compromises reached during interinstitutional negotiations “could all be reopened.”

Encouraging MEPs to “choose sound policy-making over grandstanding,” the organisations stressed that adopting the legislation should not be compromised “for the sake of satisfying a small interest group” concerned about extending the directive’s scope to hens.

“We feel compelled to remind MEPs that the large-scale rearing of animals, such as covered under the revised IED, creates significant pressures on air quality, methane emissions and water pollution,” reads the letter.

Moreover, they argued that further weakening the legislation would not support farmers suffering from unfair remuneration from the market and income distribution.

According to Euractiv sources, EPP members will take a final decision on whether their support Lutgen’s push to topple the trilogue agreement during a meeting on Monday (11 March). If the amendments are adopted during next week’s plenary vote, these would need to be approved by member states at the EU Council, delaying — and potentially jeopardising – the adoption of the text.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro/Alice Taylor]

Read more with Euractiv

Parliament committee considers more safeguards in trade liberalisation with Ukraine

The European Parliament Trade Committee will vote tomorrow (7 March) whether to add new limits to trade benefits to Kyiv to appease EU farmers, or to approve the new rules with no changes to speed up their adoption in help of the country in war.