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The European Union Commission has withdrawn infringement proceedings against Germany for non-compliance with the EU Nitrates Directive. If convicted at a second hearing before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the penalty would have been significant, with a one-off payment of at least €17,248,000 and a daily fine of up to €1,108,800.
The EC first initiated a pilot procedure against Germany in 2012 and an infringement procedure in 2013 because the German action program to implement the EU Nitrates Directive did not meet the requirements of the Directive and Germany had not complied with its obligation to tighten the measures. As a result, in 2017, Germany completely amended its fertilizer legislation (Fertilizer Act, Fertilizer Ordinance and Material Flow Balance Ordinance). However, the EC found that the changes were not sufficient to meet the requirements of the Directive. In June 2018, the CJEU included all of the EC's criticisms of the German action program in its sentence. The EC also complained that the 2017 amendment did not do justice to the 2018 CJEU ruling and subsequently initiated so-called secondary proceedings against Germany in July 2019. In 2020, the Fertilizer Ordinance was extensively revised again, the groundwork was laid for the introduction of eutrophic and nitrate-polluted areas with stricter measures and implemented with the help of a corresponding general administrative regulation and adjustments to the State Fertilizer Ordinances. After reviewing the state ordinances and contaminated area designations, the EC again requested significant improvements in June 2021, so they were revised again in a final step in close consultation with the EC and the federal states in 2022.
On May 31, 2023, the Federal Cabinet decided to amend the Fertilizer Law with the objective of developing an ordinance on impact control of the Fertilizer Ordinance and optimizing the Ordinance on material flow balance.
June 1, 2023/ BMEL/ Germany.
https://www.bmel.de/
