Fiona speaks up for North East Farmers (Fiona Hall MEP)

Fiona Hall MEP <info@fionahall.org.uk>

Fiona speaks up for North East Farmers

March 10, 2009 12:00 AM
By Fiona in Plenary Debate in the European Parliament

Speaking in the plenary debate on integrated pollution prevention and control in the European Parliament, Fiona said:

Mr President, I support this measure and its aim of promoting best available techniques for environmental protection, but I do have concerns about Parliament's methodology on it. This is essentially a directive for regulating heavy industry, but buried in the text and in the annex are a number of paragraphs that directly affect farmers.

There was no opportunity for the Agriculture Committee to give its opinion and, unfortunately, some of the proposals that affect farmers are quite inappropriate. In particular, the requirements on manure and slurry duplicate the Nitrates Directive and the Water Framework Directive. The lower thresholds on poultry drag small family farms into a complex regulatory framework designed to control global industrial giants. This directive is not the place to regulate small farms.