© BELGIUM
The Farmers’ Union reacted satisfactorily on Wednesday evening to the relaxation of manure legislation for which the Flemish Parliament gave the green light. Farmers’ Union chairman Lode Ceyssens describes it as “a first series of measures that farmers will immediately feel”. At the same time, however, the agricultural organization states that there is still a lot of work to be done.
Source: BELGA
Yesterday at 10:15 PM
On Wednesday, the Flemish Parliament gave the green light to a number of measures that relax the fine system. In certain cases, warnings will be sent first and in some cases the fines will also be lower. The measures were part of the agreement that the Flemish government concluded with agricultural organizations in February.
“In this way, farmers are freed from unreasonably high fines and for certain omissions they will first receive a warning in the future, but now they will immediately receive a fine,” says Ceyssens. “With these adjustments, farmers can once again focus on the field,” adds Maarten Moermans, vice-chairman of Groene Kring.
At the same time, however, Boerenbond states that there is still a lot of work to be done. “Preparations must start for a transition to an emission reduction model for the nitrogen problem. Additional measures are needed to better protect agricultural land. And the administrative simplification working group will now also have to come up with concrete legislative proposals,” says Ceyssens.
In addition, the Boerenbond also needs to speed up “the other adjustments to administrative obligations and unattainable dates in the manure decree that have also been agreed in the package of measures”.
Finally, the agricultural organization also closely monitors developments at the federal and European level.