NFU members urged to lobby MEPs to reject soil proposals

NFU members are being urged to lobby their MEPs to reject a draft SoilsDirective which is due to be voted on in the European Parliament later this month.

The plenary vote on the EU's Soil Thematic Strategy is due to take place onNovember 13 and NFU Deputy President Meurig Raymond said it was important asmany members as possible registered their opposition to the directive withtheir MEPs beforehand.

Mr Raymond said: "The NFU's fundamental concerns are that the draftdirective fails to acknowledge the significant benefits that are, and willcontinue to be, delivered through existing and forthcoming policies such asCAP reform cross compliance measures, agri-environment schemes, andcarefully targeted measures that will be delivered through the WaterFramework Directive priority catchment areas.

"We believe the directive will add unnecessary administrative burdens onMember States, regional and local authorities, and land managers. It isparticularly concerning that the EU's objectives of better regulation andsimplification appear to have been disregarded in respect of theseproposals.

"Recent discussions within the Parliament's Environment Committee haveoffered some clarification and constructive amendments to the proposeddirective. However, there remains a long way to go before the Commission'sproposed directive could, in our view, be workable, enforceable and, at thesame time, meet the numerous objectives of the European Union."