The European Parliament made an important decision on Tuesday when it approved a major review of the Industrial and Agricultural Production Emissions Directive, which aims to reduce emissions from industrial facilities and large pig and poultry farms. Two parts of the decree were approved by an unusually small majority, with Parliament passing the agricultural regulation by only 393 votes to 173 with 49 abstentions, while the industrial production resolution was approved by 506 votes to 82 against.
revised emissions directive (Industrial Emissions Directive, IEDs), mandatory stringent emission levels are set for relevant sectors, and environmental protection performance targets related to water consumption are introduced in order to combat water shortages. In addition, target values for waste, resource and energy efficiency and raw material consumption have also been set. The new element is that the scope of application of IEDs will also cover industrial facilities for the extraction of raw materials and large battery production facilities.
From the Hungarian point of view, the most important thing is that the target values applied to battery plants are also set with regard to emissions and water use. These will be more stringent than current national regulations.
With regard to livestock holdings, IED measures are covered by Article 350 Many animal units (SZÁE) for pig farms, except for producers using large-scale or organic practices. Likewise, poultry farms with more than 300 laying hens and more than 280 broilers will fall within the scope of the directive, and for farms with both pigs and poultry, the limit will be 380 units.
In addition, a Commission assessment by 31 December 2026 will examine the need to further address emissions from livestock farming, including livestock farming, and a reciprocity clause to ensure that non-EU producers in the EU comply with similar standards while exporting to the EU.
Parliament Speaker Radan Kanev (representing the People's Party, Bulgaria) stressed the importance of the parliamentary vote, emphasizing that it is in line with the goals of the Green Deal and the commitment to European healthcare. These goals must be achieved through…
Not imposing additional administrative burdens on companies, especially European farmers, and noted that the European Parliament understands and listens to farmers' concerns.
As he said in our paper, the debate is mainly about the European Green Deal (European Green Deal), a massive initiative aimed at making the European Union the world's leading economic power in the transition to a more sustainable future. Kaniff highlighted the key role of guidance in reconciling different social interests, enhancing industrial competitiveness and enhancing the sustainability of agriculture. He argues that the European Parliament, despite the serious pressure it faces from various stakeholders, including farming communities, has succeeded in skillfully maneuvering between divergent interests to preserve the integrity of the agreement.
Not surprisingly, according to his report, one of the main points of discussion was whether agricultural activities would be included in the scope of the directive at all. According to him, many people are frightened by the fact that farmer demonstrations are still taking place across Europe, opposing strict rules, which in many cases lead to additional costs.
The focus is on competitiveness, and battery factories are in the crosshairs
“Unfair competition poses enormous challenges, and a strategic approach is needed to encourage innovation and investment in European industries, while maintaining sustainability,” Caniff said when asked by Portfolio about growing concerns about the global competitiveness of European companies, especially stringent environmental and environmental regulations. “environmental.” In light of the standards. The main problem, according to critics, is that while Europe takes environmental regulations and targets seriously, its main economic rival, China, does not. The problem is that in this way, players in the Asian country can produce at a lower cost, so it is difficult for European companies to compete with exports from there, which threatens to put them at a competitive disadvantage.
“Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Green Deal was accompanied by a €1,000 billion support framework, but the program is now ‘without money.’ The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) was supposed to take on this task.
But member states appear to be spending on recovery, not on resilience, that is, on greener investments
He answered our newspaper's question.
Caniff touched on complex geopolitical dynamics, especially the competition between the European Union, the United States and China in the field of green technologies and clean energy. He believes that the biggest problem is that member states compete with each other and disburse government subsidies that do not help achieve common goals.
Sustainability and new environmental regulatory issues will be discussed in detail at our professional conference.
In response to our question, how can effective regulatory frameworks, such as a border adjustment mechanism for CO2 emissions, be against the export of workers with polluting production techniques to Europe (Kabam), believes that further steps are needed because this alone is not effective enough. The main problem he sees is that the United States and China oppose the introduction of this system, or do not do enough to verify emissions data from factories so that the compensation system can impose punitive duties on EU imports.
“The Americans were very aggressive, never accepted similar instruments and never seemed keen to sit at the table to discuss CBAM, in fact they launched the Anti-Inflation Act support program and imposed their own tariffs on European products.” – Caniff explained the problems. He believes that the Biden administration in the United States of America is pursuing the same protectionist policy on this issue as it was during the presidency of Donald Trump.
In response to a journalist's question about new emission rules affecting battery production in Hungary, he said that the directives set very important environmental protection standards, which manufacturers must adhere to. “The approved framework has already excluded battery assembly from the standards, because it is the least polluting stage of production,” the Bulgarian MEP explained the details.
“On the other hand, the production of batteries is very dangerous and polluting. He added that the relevant regulations will specify in great detail how to avoid negative consequences on production and what are the maximum limits for licensing facilities, noting that hundreds of pages of documents are only now being prepared, and will cover water use, Material processing is used to neutralize scrap and waste, but it may take up to 12-24 months to be completed.
The approved IDE legislation is awaiting adoption by the European Council, and after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and subsequent entry into force, Member States will have 22 months to comply with the provisions of the Directive.
Cover image source: Getty Images
